


The Art of Enduring

by ScarletHill



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-02-08 01:17:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1921158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletHill/pseuds/ScarletHill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After escaping from samurai and being takin in by a ninja clan, Dave and Dirk are happy. Dave has found a best friend in John, an orphaned ninja, and Dirk is soon to find a companion in the newcomer, Jake. When dangerous missions threaten the safety of their friends, the kids must learn to cope with the tragedies of their pasts, the dangers of their presents, and the uncertainties of their futures- all while protecting the people they hold dear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The grass is wet in the still-dark morning, coating your ankles with cold dew as you run through the forest. The only sound, other than the snapping of twigs underfoot and your panting breaths, is the distant shout of your pursuers. Your heart is beating almost painfully against your ribcage and your lungs burn.

You glance up to see Dirk's back in front of you, then back down to the leafy ground when you stumble over a rock.

"Dave, keep up," Dirk urges, slowing just enough to make sure you don't get left behind before continuing through the trees.

Your child's strides can't keep up with Dirk's and you feel like you're about to collapse. "Dirk, wait-" You trip again, this time falling to the ground with a harsh thump. Thorns and rocks scratch your arms but you force yourself to your feet with trembling limbs. Dirk darts back to grab your chubby little hand and you catch a glimpse of his wide, terrified eyes before he turns, pulling you through the forest.

  
The bushes beside you rustle and Dirk practically yanks your arm out of its socket when he spins, pulling you behind him and scooping a fist-sized rock off of the ground. He lets the rock fall back to the dirt when the figure in the bushes resolves itself into a familiar shape.

  
"Bro," you say, swaying on your feet, "can we go home now? I'm tired."

  
Bro reaches over to ruffle your hair. "Sorry, little man. We'll have to keep going for a little while longer, okay?" He reaches down to lift you up into his arms, casting Dirk a quick glance before staring to jog.

  
You look over Bro's shoulder, watching as the forest moves along behind you. The steady movement of Bro's running, along with the rapid beating of his heart, start to lull you to sleep. You're so tired after trekking through the forest for what seems like an endless time. You've taken short naps when Bro was carrying you, but other than that you've been moving the whole time. You yawn, blinking away the light raindrops that start to fall.

  
You hear the voices behind you again, closer this time, and Bro speeds up. Dirk trips and Bro steadies him.

  
"You okay?"

  
"I'm fine Bro," Dirk replies, voice heavy with exhaustion. "Just keep going."

  
The rain starts to come down harder, blurring the lines of the world.

  
"Bro, I'm cold," you murmur.

  
"I know, little man. We're almost there."

  
You bury your face in Bro's shoulder, hiding from the rain and breathing in his comforting scent.

  
Suddenly the shouts behind you are much clearer, much closer than before. Bro swears, stopping to slide you to the ground.

  
"Dirk, take Dave and get out of here. Go to the camp- do you remember where it is?"

  
"Through the forest and over the red bridge that leads to the mountain," Dirk repeats tiredly.

  
"Good. I'll meet you two there." Bro crouches down quickly to pull you and Dirk into a hug. Dirk stiffens in surprise at the uncharacteristic gesture of affection- and you would too, if your limbs weren't feeling so heavy.

  
Bro releases you and gives you a light push towards the trees that slope upwards on the beginning of a tall hill. "Go."

  
Dirk grabs your hand, his own cold and wet, pulling you up the slippery hill.

  
"Dirk, where are we going?"

  
"We're going to the camp that Bro told us about, remember?" Dirk pushes aside the branches of a bush to let you through.

  
"Why isn't Bro coming?"

  
"He- he's meeting us there."

  
"Why can't we go with him?" you whine.

  
Dirk doesn't answer, just keeps leading you up the rain-slicked grass.

  
You hear a sharp peal from down below, instantly recognizing it as the sound of two swords clashing. Both you and Dirk stop for a heartbeat, looking down, view blocked by foliage.

  
"Come on, Dave," Dirk says, and you run up the hill, the sound of shouts and swords echoing below.

  
"Dirk, what's happening?" you pant. "Where's Bro?"

  
Dirk grits his teeth. "Dave, we have to keep going. Bro said-"

  
Suddenly your legs give out and you collapse, knocking Dirk to the ground as well. Dirk grunts, sitting up with mud and leaves clinging to him.

  
The rain is hard and cold, streaking down your face along with hot tears.

  
"Dave, are you hurt?"

  
You shake your head, hiccuping. "I can't run anymore. I'm cold and tired and hungry. Why can't we go home?"

  
"There's people looking for us. They want to hurt us and Bro, so we have to go through the forest and over the big red bridge. We'll be safe there."

  
"Why isn't Bro coming?" you ask again, lifting a hand to wipe your eyes, succeeding only in smearing the rain and tears around your face.

  
"He's giving us a head star-" Dirk's eyes suddenly go wide as he looks over your head, and you turn to follow his gaze, squinting through the driving rain.

  
Back at the base of the hill, in the small clearing, Bro is being faced by three men in heavy armour. There are other men, too, laying slumped on the ground in puddles of diluting red. Bro's katana is drawn, blade glinting silver in the bare moonlight and running with red.

  
The rain makes it hard to see, but you can vaguely make out the dark shapes standing around Bro. Two are hanging back while one darts forwards, his sword ringing out against Bro's.

  
Bro shoves the attacker back, flash-stepping out of the way of the next strike before slashing his blade sideways. The attacker topples into the mud and doesn't move.  
The next dark shape steps forwards, attacking Bro just like the first. Except now Bro's movements are slower, and the stranger manages to land a few cuts along his arms, his legs.

  
Bro staggers back, bumping into a tree and losing his balance for just a second-  
And the stranger's sword pierces through Bro's stomach.

  
"Bro!"

  
Everything seems to slow down; the rain, the movements of the men below... you can see every detail. From the gleaming sword base to the tip, a brilliant red, and Bro in the middle. The attacker raises his sword, lifting Bro off of the ground, before yanking back his sword. Bro falls to the ground, unmoving.

  
Beside you, Dirk isn't breathing.

  
"What happened? What did he do to Bro? Why isn't he getting up?"

  
Dirk slowly stands, taking your hand in a shaking grip. His voice is rough. "Let's go."

  
"What about Br-"

  
"Let's go," he snaps, fierce enough to stop your questions.

  
You stumble through the forest after him, picturing the clearing, the puddles of red, Bro's katana falling from his hand-

  
Dirk reaches up to dash a hand across his eyes and you're shocked to see him crying.  
You push yourself until you crumple to the ground, face in the muddy water, unable to stand even if you wanted to. Dirk lifts you, staggering under the weight, and carries you over to a nearby tree, with a small cave-like space under its tangle of roots.

  
The roots shelter you from the worst of the rain, although the ground beneath you is muddy. You shiver and Dirk pulls you agains him, wrapping his arms around you.

  
"It's okay, Dave," he whispers, his voice cracking. "It's going to be okay. You get some sleep, alright?"

  
You try to close your eyes, whimpering against the wet and filthy front of Dirk's shirt.  
"I want Bro."

  
"Me too," Dirk breathes, his tears falling onto your hair.

  
You can't stop seeing the sword slipping through Bro as easily as through water, the dripping crimson tip, that small line of red streaking down from the corner of his mouth-

-

You wake up screaming, the sound muffled by a pillow. Blankets are wrapped around you tightly, pinning you down. Your pillow and eyes are damp.

  
You blink against the sunlight filtering into the room, glancing around in confusion. You're in a small room, the floor made of tatami mats and the walls made of thin paper. Your tatami bed mat is crooked, the blankets disheveled.

  
You slowly come back to yourself, your heart calming its frantic rhythm. Your name is Dave Strider, and it's been years since your Bro died. After that night, your older brother Dirk brought you through the forest and onto a cliffside, managing to avoid the two samurai hunting for you. You made it to a large red bridge stretching from the cliff edge into a thick fog. On the other side was a lone mountain, the base surrounded by thick mists, and on that mountain was a small camp. A ninja's camp.

  
They took you in, trained you- although none of them were ever as good as Bro- and you finally understood some things. Bro used to be a ninja. One of the best, actually. He grew up here, lived here, until a mission went wrong and he was injured. They thought he was dead, and while he was recuperating in a faraway town, he came across two babies abandoned in an alley. So he took them in- you and Dirk, that is. He raised you for a handful of years, teaching you ninja tactics under the guise of 'strifes'. And then someone recognized him. Years later, someone recognized him as a former ninja. A samurai who had a vendetta against him for some long-forgotten wrong.

  
As soon as Bro saw him, he took you and Dirk and left. You moved around, getting closer and closer to his home, and you were nearly there when the samurai attacked. Bro took you and ran, trying to get you to safety before the samurai caught up. And he did; he just didn't save himself.

  
You roll over, untangling yourself from the covers, and splash some water on your face before looking at your reflection. You look tired and tense. You straighten your shoulders, taking a deep breath before relaxing into your usual neutral, somewhat apathetic, expression- that Bro taught you to master.

You walk towards the door, sliding it open and slipping onto the wooden deck, leaning your arms on the railing. The sun is warm on your face and the morning smells fresh. Birds are chirping in the trees and the mountain stream trickles softly by. So different from that night that you can almost forget about the nightmare. Almost.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you for all the hits and kudos!  
> I hope you enjoy the next chapter :)

You're busy throwing shuriken into a thick, upright log when Dave comes up behind you. You throw a few more, concentrating on the way the the cold metal skims your fingers and listening to the light thunk as the sharpened stars sink into the wood.

"What's up?" Your turn to face your little brother.

Dave raises one pale eyebrow. "Did you forget that we're doing training? Everyone's already down at the bridge."

You swear. "That was today?"

Dave rolls his eyes, face void of expression. "Go grab your sword. And your dirk."

You give Dave a flat look before starting off towards your room. When you found out that the ninjas had small daggers called dirks, you had to get one purely for the irony. You almost stabbed yourself the first time you used one, though, and Dave has never let it go, even though you're pretty sure he understands that you keep it around solely for ironic purposes.

You snatch your katana off the floor, jogging back over to Dave, and you both head towards the bridge. When you slide to a stop beside the gathered group, Roxy waves and John grins, skipping up to Dave.

"You're late, Dave," John says through a smile.

"Hey, don't blame me. Dirk forgot about training, so I had to wait for his lazy ass."

Roxy claps her hands and slings an arm around your shoulders. "Diiirk, we've been waiting for ages."

Before you can reply, Eridan clears his throat. "If you losers are done, some of us wwould like to go."

Feferi gives the group an apologetic look. "Cronus already stopped by. He told us that he and Kurloz are done hiding scrolls and traps in the forest and we're supposed to find them. If we bring one back, he'll buy us fireworks. We'll dolphinately get it," she adds with a grin.

"Come on, Fef, let's go. Wwe don't need to wwait for them," Eridan mutters, nudging Feferi, who rolls her eyes with a smile before following Eridan over the bridge and into the thick mist.

You turn back when Roxy drops her arm from your shoulder.

"Let's split up. Then we can make it a competition!"

Dave raises an eyebrow while John agrees enthusiastically.

"I want Dirk on my team," Roxy says, grabbing your sleeve. "And Kanaya."

"Oh." Kanaya sounds surprised. "Well, I suppose-"

Roxy doesn't let her finish, grabbing her arm and starting to drag the two of you over the bridge. "We're totally gonna win."

You glance over your shoulder to smirk at Dave, being hauled forwards by John, Gamzee trailing along behind them.

When you reach the cliffside and the forest, Roxy stops you, pointing at both you and Kanaya demandingly. "Put up your masks and hoods. It's more realistic."

You raise an eyebrow. "It's training, Roxy, not a real mission."

Her hands move to her hips. "Training for a real mission. Hoods on."

You sigh but comply, pulling the mask up over your nose and mouth and yanking the hood down over your eyes.

Satisfied, Roxy does the same before darting off into the trees. You give Kanaya a long-suffering look before following Roxy's disappearing form.

The three of you dart through the trees, ducking under branches and through bushes rapidly. In the distance you hear the snapping sound of a trap being sprung and Roxy snickers.

Between the movement and the sunlight streaming between the treetops, you start to overheat and it's a relief when Roxy stops in front of a river, looking dismayed even with only her eyes and eyebrows visible.

You take the moment of rest to duck down and splash some water of your face.

"I forgot there was a river."

You raise an eyebrow and Roxy manages to look sheepish. "Okay, maybe I snuck into Cronus' room and looked at the map for the exercise. To be fair, though, he marked everything down on a _map_. With, like, a big red X."

"So that's where you were heading."

Roxy huffs, offended. "You though I was just running around the forest randomly?"

You shrug one shoulder. It _does_ sound like something she would do.

Kanaya walks up to the two of you hesitantly. "If you would like, I have a suggestion as to how we might get across."

Roxy shrieks and hugs her tightly. "See? I knew it was a good idea to have you on the team!"

She lets Kanaya go, and the green-eyed ninja -after taking a second to recover- leads you over to a tall tree with branches that stretch halfway over the river. In a burst of surprising agility, she scrambles up into the branches and crawls over the top of one until it starts to dip downwards. Kanaya hesitates for a moment, testing the strength of her branch before grabbing on to it tightly and maneuvering until she's hanging underneath the branch. She slowly starts to swing her legs back and forth, bending the branch back and forth until it flicks out far enough for her to jump to the far bank.

Kanaya turns and straightens her jacket, smiling faintly as Roxy starts cheering, the latter already starting to climb the tree. She gets across pretty much the same way, albeit with a lot more yelling and laughing, and you're left alone on the other side. 

Dirk, come on," Roxy shouts, her goal of a realistic training session forgotten.

You sigh with resignation and climb the tree, searching for the sturdiest, longest branch. You manage to find one higher up that sticks out just a bit farther than the rest. There's no way you can swing across, so you stay on top of the branch. You step carefully and manage to make it a good distance before the wooden limb starts to bend under your weight. You motion for Roxy and Kanaya to step back before jumping down, barely reaching the other bank, and rolling to absorb the impact.

Roxy whoops as you get to your feet, brushing off stray leaves. She takes a quick scan of your surroundings before exclaiming "I know where we are" and sprinting off.

After a short run, a little clearing opens up in front of you. The glinting golden scroll case wedged between the branches of a tree on the far side catches your eye immediately.

"Yes!" Roxy starts forwards and you hear a faint click. You don't even think, instinctively launching yourself forwards and grabbing Roxy around the waist, tucking into a roll just before you hit the ground five feet ahead of where a net snaps up, anchored to trees on either side of the clearing.

"Whew, thanks Dirk! That was close," Roxy breathes before jumping up and snatching the scroll from the tree, waving it at Kanaya. "We got-"

Something in the brush snaps and you whirl to face it, tensing, shoving Roxy behind you before you remember that she doesn't need your protection.

Kanaya looks to the bushes as well, hand going to her throwing stars.

A shadow nears the clearing and you can tell right away that it's not an armoured samurai. It's too short and thin, stumbling through the foliage in a manner that looks irritated. You realize that it must be one of the others, relaxing and starting to turn back to the trail.

"Excuse me, if it's not a bother, could one of you folks point me direction of the nearest village? I seem to be los-"

You snap back around at the unfamiliar voice, taking in the dark-haired boy covered in scratches and- _oh no, he's cute_.

The stranger stands at the edge of the clearing, eyes wide and mouth open as he takes you all in fully. One hand is still holding back the branches of a bush. "I- oh my," the stranger stammers, looking a bit terrified.

You let your hand fall away from you katana, motioning for Kanaya to lower her stars.

Roxy steps around you, tugging back her hood and mask to give the stranger an accusing look. "You're not from around here," she says, clearly referring to his odd, lilting accent.

"Um, no! No, I'm not. I'm traveling around the area." He looks around and his shoulders slump a bit. "But I seem to be lost."

"Well," Roxy says, bouncing over to him, apparently deciding that the stranger is perfectly harmless. "What are you doing out here? The closest town is at least half a day away." She motions off into the trees.

"Dang nab it! I though this was the right way." He frowns, reaching up to push his glasses back up his nose.

"I'm Roxy."

The stranger takes the offered hand. "Ah- pardon my terrible manners. I'm Jake."

"Well, Jakey, what are you doin' out here?"

"Ah, just Jake, actually." He looks a little startled. "I was exploring the wilderness and I lost my backpack. With my maps." His voice drops. "And my food."

"Aww." Roxy turns to you with pleading eyes. "Can we keep him? Pretty please?"

You roll your eyes. "We can bring him back to camp. Cronus can probably give him a map. And better directions." You shove back your hood and pull down your mask, striding over to Jake and holding out your hand in a smooth gesture. "Dirk."

The wide-eyed boy shakes your hand with a firm grip. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dirk."

You jerk your chin in the direction of the camp. "Let's head back."

Roxy starts back the way you came, but you stop her. "I don't think Jake wants to wade through a river."

"Oh right. This way!" She runs off again, pulling Kanaya with her.

You follow her at a slower speed, walking beside Jake at a leisurely pace and earning a grateful look. _Shit, that's cute_.

"So you just wander the wilderness for fun?" You inwardly wince as soon as the words leave your lips.

Jake laughs, sounding slightly embarrassed. "I was trying to catalogue wildlife and plant species. To finish my dad's book."

"A book of wildlife and plant species? Sounds fascinating."

Jake whirls on you, indignant. "It is! Do you know how many types of fern there are growing in this area? They-"

You hold up your hands. "Okay, okay. So _someone's_ really passionate about ferns."

Jake sighs. "Well, to be truthful, I prefer the adventure. But I might as well catalogue the native flora and fauna while I'm at it!"

Damn, that accent is so fucking adorable when he gets mad. "And nearly getting stuck with throwing stars constitutes good adventure?"

Jake ducks his head. "Ah. Yes. Sorry about that. I didn't intend to blunder upon anyone this far out. I must say, I was not expecting ninjas." He blows out a breath. "I really am sorry."

"Hey, no problem. Next time crash around a bit and yell loudly. No one will think you're an attacker; just some idiot."

"Thank you for the advice," Jake replies drily.

You grin, forgetting that the mask isn't covering your mouth. Jake smiles back, biting his bottom lip.

Roxy appears on the path in front of you, head cocked and hands on her hips. "Dirk, what's taking so long?"

You shoot her a glare before speeding up to an easy jog. When you reach the bridge, wet with mist, Jake slips and you reach out to steady him, earning a flustered thank you.

Back at camp, Jake attracts a few curious stares while you lead him up the winding path and over to Cronus' place.

"Cronus!" You wait for his door to slide and for him to take in Jake before explaining. "We found him in the forest."

Cronus raises an eyebrow, wrinkling the scar on his forehead. "Vwhat the hell did you bring him here for, mate? Take him to Kankri, if anything."

You open your mouth to answer, but before you can say anything Roxy comes barreling up the path.

"Dirk!" She bends over, hands braced on her knees, gasping for breath. "It's Dave. He-"

You don't wait for an explanation, sprinting down the hill before you can even process what's happening. _Shit, shit, shit. What did that idiot do now_? You see a few figures standing by the bridge, one of them leaning heavily on another. _Oh God, what if he's seriously hurt? What if_ -

You slow to a walk as you hear Dave spewing out curses and see him smack the back of his crutch's head. When you reach them you see Dave scowling, being supported by John as he holds one foot off of the ground.

"What happened?"

Dave rolls his eyes. "John decided it would be a good idea to push me into a trap."

"I didn't know it was a trap! And I said sorry!"

You feel dizzy with relief.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, John. You're now indebted to me for life. You'll have to cater to my every whim."

"Haha, you _wish_."

You roll your eyes. "Go see Kurloz and get yourself fixed up. You're both idiots, by the way."

Dave glares at you and John laughs, getting another smack on the head in retaliation as you turn away and start back up the hill.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you all so much for reading! Don't worry, the exposition's almost done. We'll (hopefully) be getting to the main plot in the next chapter :)

Despite Kurloz's help, your ankle is still sore as fuck. You can walk on it, but it's no picnic. You wince for the hundredth time and John bites his lip, hovering by your shoulder.

"Are you sure you should be walking, Dave? Kurloz said to rest it."

"I'm _fine_ John. I'd be _more_ fine if you didn't shove me into a trap, but hey," you shrug, "here we are."

"I _said_ I was sorry!" John pouts at you and you sigh, letting him help you to sit at the edge of the ice cold mountain pool- one that you trekked all the way up the winding trail to reach.

You pull off your tabi, dropping the boot on top of a nearby rock before testing the water with a toe.

"Shit, that's cold." You shove your foot under, feeling it burn with the freezing water.

John laughs, dropping onto the ground beside you and leaning back on his elbows. After a few minutes he asks, "Does it help?"

"If you count not being able to feel my foot as helping."

John grins and you stand, pulling your foot from the pool and hopping around, numbly trying to shake off the water. John yelps as a few droplets land on him.

"Dave stop! That's _cold_!"

You sit down again to tug on your tabi, trying to rub feeling back into your frozen foot. "What now, Egbert?"

"Now you rest," he insists.

"Psh. John, I don't need rest. I'm a Strider. Strides are ninjas. Strides have a motherfucking ninja _lineage_ , and-" you break off when John snorts.

"Sure, Dave. But Kurloz said you're supposed to rest, so I'm going to make sure you do."

You scowl. "That's bullshit."

John gives you a buck-toothed grin. "I'm very serious about this, Dave." He gets up, brushes himself off, and reaches down to you. "And I'll prove it to you when we get to your place."

You let him pull you to your feet and, after some debate, slip your arm over his shoulders to satisfy his need to be helpful.

"So what, you're going to confine me to my room? Bring me soup? Tuck me in and read me bedtime stories?"

John sticks out his tongue. "Maybe I will, if you ask nicely."

By the time you descend the trail to the lodging buildings- yours is the one on the right side, opposite John's- you're grudgingly grateful for your John-crutch; your ankle has started to hurt again.

True to his word, John sits you down as soon as you get inside your room and refuses to let you move, using everything from pleading to threats to tackling you when you try to get up- resulting in a few bumps and bruises.

When the light starts to fade, your ankle is feeling good enough to stand on. You step out onto the deck, garnering a disapproving look from John as he follows you out.

" _Dave_ ," he whines.

"I'm _fine_ , Egbert. Your miracle healing worked- great, now I sound like Gamzee."

John smiles and you smirk back.

With a sigh, John looks around. "It's getting late. I should probably head over to my place."

You aren't disappointed at all. "Yeah, sure. I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe I can teach you how to use a sword without almost impaling your instructor."

John rolls his eyes. "That was _one time_ , Dave." He brightens. "And I can show you how to use nunchucks!"

"Those are unnatural and I'm convinced that the process of using them involves dark magic."

John laughs, hopping off of the deck. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

You raise your hand in a half wave, watching his retreating form until it melts into the shadows before slipping back inside, carefully sliding the door shut behind you.

-

"-And furthermore, it would likely provide a mutual benefit for all the parties involved- unless, of course, the insinuation of remaining here is contrary to your purposes or intents. I assure you that I don't intend to take liberties in assuming that you would derive enjoyment from remaining here, and if my assumptions are triggering to you, please let me know. If you are averse to the idea, someone can promptly escort you to the nearest village," Kankri finishes.

Jake looks at him with a dazed, confused expression before glancing to you for help.

"Basically, Kankri's asking if you want to stay for a while or go home."

"Dirk, that tone and brusque manner of speaking may be offending or off-putting to some people. Now, it's not my intention to attack you or upset you, but I would suggest that you endeavour to-"

"You're really inviting me to stay?" Jake breaks in, eyes wide with excitement.

You ignore Kankri yapping in the background and offer Jake a one-shouldered shrug. "If you want to."

"And- and would it be possible for me to learn? How to be a ninja?"

You smirk at that. "Only if you're planning on staying for a few years. But- well, I guess you could learn some of the basics." You give Kankri a distracted wave, starting out the door with Jake on your heels.

Jake grins widely, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "My goodness, this is exiting!"

"Even more than cataloging ferns?"

Jake shoves you lightly, not noticing your surprise as his eyes fall to the ground for a split second, a strange look passing over his face. "I suppose my dad's book will have to wait." Jake's mouth twitches up into a small smile, his voice softening considerably. "He'd understand, though."

"Not present tense," you note.

"My dad died years ago. It's been a while, but sometimes I still miss him." Jake is silent for a long moment before adding, "I'm all on my own now." He laughs, blushing slightly. "Gosh, I'm sorry Dirk. I-"

"Don't worry about it. I know what that's like. My Bro died bringing Dave and me here, so it's always been just me and my little bro. And Dave tends to get himself into a lot more than he can handle, sometimes."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too." You sigh softly, searching for a way to dispel the dismal mood. "Hey, do you want to get some gear? Then I can show you around the training area."

"Really? I'd love to!"

You get Jake an outfit, and of course he starts asking questions. "Why is it so loose? And I though ninjas were supposed to wear black."

"If it was tight, you couldn't move around at all. And- I can't believe you actually noticed that it's 'very dark blue' instead of 'black'- but the colouring is for blending in at night. Have you ever seen completely black things at night? They're mostly shades of dark blue." You look him over and sigh. "You tied the belt wrong."

You watch Jake fiddle with the dark strip of cloth for a couple more moments before rolling your eyes. "Here, let me." You step forwards, deftly undoing Jake's knots and reaching over to straighten the belt around his waist, glancing up and suddenly realizing how close you are.

You clear your throat. "So you want to wrap the top in front like this, and then tie the belt to hold it in place," you say, pulling a little on the belt to keep it tight enough and _oh God oh God he stepped forwards a bit_. You try to concentrate on tying the belt before taking a step back and hooking a couple fingers through the belt at his left hip.

"If you're using a katana, you'll loop it through the belt here, or just carry it across your back if the sheath's got a shoulder strap like mine." You release Jake, turning to escape the room.

"Are you going to show me the training area now?" Jake asks, enthusiasm evident in his voice.

 _Fuck_. "Yeah, this way."

You lead Jake back past the lodgings and down a trail that branches off of the main path, winding through an area of trees too small to be a proper forest. In the grove of trees there is a large, sandy clearing for training, laden with dummies and targets and other paraphernalia.

Jake darts around the training area, kicking up sand as he inspects the equipment. "Holy mackerel, look at all this stuff!"

"That's not even all of it. On the other side of the mountain there's an area for climbing, and up top by Kankri's place there's a pool that we use for water crossing practice."

"Can we do that, too?"

You raise an eyebrow. "I guess, but we'll have to work on your balance first. You can't walk on water until you can walk on land, and I don't think you want to fall in that pool. It's cold as fuck."

"I'm sorry, walking on water? Is that a metaphor, or-"

You smirk. "Literal. Like I said, you'll see after we work on the basics." You start back down the path, heading home, but glance over your shoulder when Jake doesn't follow.

"Dirk? Would you... mind showing me something now?" He fidgets nervously. "I mean, if it's any trouble, you don't have to, or if you're busy. I don't need-"

You roll your eyes, walking back over. "I don't have anything else to do, so sure, why not?" You look Jake over for a minute, wondering where to begin. "Let's start with walking."


	4. Chapter 4

You narrow your eyes against the bark chips that fall down onto you upturned face as John scrambles down from the tree, shaking leaves out of his hair.

"I can't see them anywhere."

"Damn." Your eyes sweep across the forest quickly as you check to make sure that you're not being snuck up on. "I thought we'd at least be able to tell where Jake is."

John nods in agreement. "Dirk must be a good teacher."

You snort. "More like Jake's got natural talent. Dirk just knows how to-"

Something cracks in the bushes and you fall into a crouch, one hand on your katana. For a solid minute nothing happens, the only sound your own measured breathing.

John's voice is nearly inaudible. "Can you see them?"

Voices suddenly filter through to you, Dirk and Jake's, close from behind. John looks at you with wide eyes before darting forwards, scampering into the trees with you hot on his heels. After a second you hear the sound of pursuit as the others notice the swishing of bushes.

A small break in the trees appears in front of you and you motion for John to run through to the far side. He nods, but two steps later a snap coupled with a surprised yelp brings your attention to your friend. He's hanging upside down from a tree by one foot, a rope looped around his ankle. You freeze instantly, wary of triggering another trap.  _Shit, I should have known that the noise was a setup._ You can hear Dirk and Jake approaching and you hurriedly scan the ground.

"Dave," John hisses.

You look up and he silently points to three different spots on the ground, one only a couple feet to your left. You carefully skirt the trap, staying to the edge of the clearing. You scramble up a nearby tree, far back enough to hide in the leaves, right as Dirk and Jake saunter into the clearing below.

"Hello mate," Jake greets John.

John sticks his tongue out.

Dirk looks amused, scanning the clearing and turning his back to where you are. _Perfect_.

"Where's Da-"

You leap down from the tree, tackling your brother to the ground before drawing your katana and leaping back, managing to back both of your attackers away from John so he can put his dagger to the rope.

Dirk's katana is out as well and he raises an eyebrow. "Damn, I was looking forwards to seeing you hanging upside down."

You smirk, gesturing around at the snares. "Not a bad idea."

John shouts in victory as he cuts the rope, distracting you just enough for Dirk to jump at you. Your swords clash and you move around the clearing in a whirlwind of metal, dodging Dirk's slashes and kicks and countering with your own. You spring away from Dirk, placing yourself back-to-back with John as he faces down Jake.

"What now, Egbert?"

You don't need to see John's face to know that he's grinning. "Now we get out of here."

"Cool. I have an idea, but we'll need to switch." You parry Dirk's next blow, wrenching his sword to the side to throw him off balance before whirling to face Jake, John still pressed against your back.

"Give me two minutes," you tell John before leaping at Jake, deflecting his shuriken off of your blade. Jake draws two dirks, brining them up to block your strike, twisting his wrists in an attempt to force your sword down. You break away, turning your katana blade-down and sweeping it to the side to knock away Jake's weapons. While he's unbalanced, you follow with a swift kick, sending him staggering back a few steps. _Bingo_.

You smirk as Jake trips onto one of the unactivated traps, shouting as he's hoisted into the air. You spin back to help John, forcing Dirk back to where Jake flails around, knives on the ground below him.

"John, let's go." You wait a few seconds for John to disappear into the bushes before breaking away from Dirk and sprinting after him. Behind you Dirk swears.

You catch up to John, who's grinning from ear to ear. "That was great! I thought we were done for when I sprung the trap. That was smart thinking, Dave! Very ironic." He wiggles his eyebrows.

"Damn right. I'm a motherfucking irony master, John. Grade-A black belt in the art of ironic satire."

John laughs, breathy from running. "Did you see Jake's _face_?"

You smirk, slowing your run to a walk as you break through the trees. You stop at the foot of the bridge, leaning against one post as John perches on a nearby rock, kicking his feet idly. You wait in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Jake and Dirk emerge from the forest, Dirk swatting away branches with subtle irritation and Jake hanging his head slightly. There are still leaves in Jake's hair.

"Sup," you say.

Jake gives you a self-deprecating smile. "Hello chaps. Not a bad tactic there. I suppose I really should pay more attention to my surroundings."

You notice his eyes flit quickly to Dirk and you can finally place the tension between them; the other day Dirk was talking about how Jake always forgot to look around him, to notice his surroundings. It was just a quick comment, but coming from Dirk it was a lot.

"Are we going back?" John asks, oblivious to the discomfort.

"Yeah," Dirk says shortly, pushing past you. His steps make hollow echoes on the bridge.

John gives you a confused look and you shake your head slightly, starting to follow after Dirk.

"Um, Dave? Could I speak with you a moment?"

You grimace before turning around to face Jake, waving John away. "What?"

"I know there's something bothering Dirk, but he refuses to tell me! He's been patient while teaching me everything else, but when I don't look around he doesn't that." Jake points an accusing finger into the mist.

You raise an eyebrow and he deflates a little bit.

"I was hoping you might know why he's acting so touchy about this."

You cross your arms. "That's Dirk's business- not mine, not yours. If you want to know, ask him. And if he doesn't tell you, let it drop."

Jake looks wounded. "I'm only worried about him. As his friend, I think it's my job to make sure he's okay."

"Like I said, talk to _him_ about it." You start across the bridge.

You hear Jake sigh before following.

-

When the mist surrounds you, the icy wet drops serving as a chilly check back into the present, you slow down. You take a moment to inwardly curse yourself for losing your cool. It's not Jake's fault; he's still learning, and even for a beginner he has talent. He's easy to guide and eager to learn, and it's not his fault that you-

A figure burst through the white cloud beside you, startling you out of your thoughts. Your hand is on the hilt of your katana before you recognize John. _Should've known._

John offers you a grin, squinting through the water condensing on his glasses. You wonder if Jake's having the same problem.

"Hey Dirk!"

"What's up," you reply, more of a greeting than a question.

"Dave's talking to Jake, so I thought I'd come talk to you," John explains.

John keeps speaking, but you aren't paying much attention. _Why is Jake talking to Dave? Shit, what if he's mad?_ Despite yourself you can't help feeling a twinge of jealousy. In the past few weeks you had grown close to Jake- close enough to be considered good friends at the very least. Best friends, according to Jake. It would be so much simpler if that was how you felt about him.

John stops abruptly and you very nearly trip over him. You notice that the middle of camp is filled with a lot more people than usual, all looking curious and watchful. It takes you a moment to identify the two newcomers, both dressed like ninja and speaking to Kankri at the edge of the camp.

"Who are they?" Dave asks, coming up behind you.

"Let's go see," John decides, skipping over to the small group. Dave starts after him and you decide that you're curious enough to follow. It doesn't escape your notice that Jake trails along behind you.

The trio is speaking in hushed tones, but they break off when Kankri looks up, taking you all in. "Yes?"

John takes it as an invitation, bouncing forwards to offer the strangers a handshake and a grin. "Hi, I'm John!"

The first one, a violet-eyed girl with short blonde hair, steps forwards after a short pause. "Rose. It's a pleasure to meet you, John."

The other follows suit, smiling and proclaiming her name to be Jade, and John quickly introduces the rest of you.

Kankri looks like he want to dismiss you, but can't without being rude.

" _Rosie_? Oh my God, it _is_ you!" Roxy's surprised voice cuts though the crowd a heartbeat before she does, squeezing between you to pull Rose into a hug that looks almost painful.

"Roxy." Rose doesn't sound surprise, but she doesn't sound unhappy, either. "You appear to be doing well. I had heard that you joined a ninja clan."

"That's right, Rosie," Roxy says proudly before catching sight of someone behind you and waving. "Kanaya! Kan, come an' meet my lil sister!"

 

After Roxy's arrival it becomes apparent that none of you are leaving, so Kankri relocates everyone to his house, emitting a long sigh before starting to explain the whole story with way more words than necessary.

Kankri tells you that the neighbouring ninja clan, exclusively for female ninjas known as kunoichi, received a strangely coded letter. They received it when one of their members was stabbed through the eye with a scroll-bound spike, precise enough to ruin the eye but not kill the ninja. Oddly enough, the message that had been so carefully delivered was indecipherable. The Kunoichi leader hoped that their neighbours might know where to find a certain infamous scholar known for his cryptography skills, one Sollux Captor.

"Wait, Captor? As in Mituna fucking Captor?” Dave breaks in.

"I didn't know Mituna had any brothers! Or sisters," John amends.

Kankri looks tired. "Mituna does have a brother, one we had a closer tie with before his... accident. Pardon me, that classification could be construed as offensive. To clarify, I do not mean to consider Mituna to be-"

"My apologies for interrupting, but do you have the location of this scholar? Our mission is rather... urgent."

Kankri sighs. "We do posses an antiquated place of residence. There are no guarantees that the information will still be accurate, but we can provide it to you."

"Excellent, thank you. In that case, we will be on our way immediately."

Kankri looks horrified. "I'm afraid that I, as a respectable host, cannot possibly allow the two of you to travel any further tonight. It is already late, and I must insist that you remain here for the night and set out in the morning."

It takes some arguing- Kankri spewing out word vomit and Rose countering with thinly veiled curtness- but eventually the two kunoichis agree to stay for the night. Kanaya and Roxy go with them to help find a place for them to sleep, and at the mention of rest you realize that you're thoroughly exhausted as well.

As you leave Kankri's house, you notice a strange gleam in his eyes and can't help the sudden, sneaking suspicion that he's planning something.


	5. Chapter 5

You squint against the sudden stream of light as someone throws open your door, letting out an unhappy grunt and pulling the blankets over your head.

"Daaave, come on! Get up!"

"What the fuck do you want, Egbert? Jesus, what time is it?"

"Time to _get up_ ," John insists, grabbing the corner of your blankets and dragging them off.

You make a noise of protest, glaring grumpily at your grinning tormentor. "Tip for the future; don't pull off people's covers. I could have been naked. I know it would be an honour to see bare Strider ass, but really John. Control yourself."

John rolls his eyes. "Would you get up? Everyone's about to leave."

You raise an eyebrow, reaching out for John's hand and letting him pull you to your feet. "Who's 'everyone'?"

"Kankri's sending Dirk, Jake, Roxy, and Kanaya with Rose and Jade. He said it's half to confirm that Sollux is still in the village and half as an escort."

You raise the other eyebrow. "That's an awful lot of people."

John's eyes are mischievous. "I know. I think Rose thought so too, because she was arguing that they didn't need an escort, but Kankri insisted."

"What the hell is Kankri planning?" you mutter. Two people at most would suffice for an escort and confirmation on the scholar's whereabouts, but four? Kankri isn't very good at disguising the fact that he's not just organizing an escort.

You follow John out to the bridge where the group is gathered, dressed in traveling clothes instead of ninja garb. You stroll over to Dirk, who's dressed in a magenta kimono with a crimson obi.

"Sup."

Dirk returns your greeting, the corners of his mouth slightly pinched.

"What's this about?" You arch an eyebrow pointedly and Dirk's voice lowers slightly.

"I'm not sure. I think Kankri's planning to send a message to the village when we arrive. Hasn't told us anything yet, but anyone can see that he's got something going on." Dirk's eyes narrow slightly. "I don't like this."

You give a slight nod of agreement, your apprehension growing at Dirk's display of nerves before you shake off the thoughts. Dirk can take care of himself. You smirk at him. "Just try to stay out of trouble."

Dirk cracks a grin that curves his lips for a split second before disappearing. "You stay out of trouble. Try not to break anything while I'm gone." He motions to your ankle and you roll your eyes.

"Nice kimono, by the way. Pink's a good colour on you," you shoot back.

Dirk's eyes narrow and he opens his mouth, but before he can snap a reply Jake comes up behind him, tugging at the collar of his white and yellow patterned kimono. When Dirk notices him he stiffens, looking away quickly.

 _Holy shit, was that a blush?_ You force your face into a blank mask, hiding your surprise.

"Good golly, I can't wait to get going! All this standing around is making me downright anxious."

"I know, me too," Roxy says, appearing out of nowhere to throw her arms around Dirk and Jake's shoulders, her navy blue sleeves falling down to her elbows. "We're just waiting for Rose and Jade to come back with the supplies that Kankri's making them bring. Then we can _goooo_."

Dirk rolls his eyes. "It's not like it's going to be fun. We're walking to the village. That's going to take a long time."

"Shush you," Roxy says, lightly swatting the back of his head. "It's going to be loads of fun, you'll see." She pulls both Dirk and Jake into some semblance of a hug before skipping off again.

John fills her place, chattering enthusiastically to Jake until the kunoichis descend the trail, the rest of the group breaking away to follow them.

"Well mate, I'll see you when we get back," Jake says, patting John's shoulder.

John laughs before wrapping his arms around Jake. You can't help the sudden stab of resentment that courses through you.

Beside you Dirk stiffens slightly, but almost immediately John releases Jake, the latter already walking away and waving over his shoulder. Dirk gives you a light punch on the shoulder before he turns and follows the others over the bridge.

"Aw, I wish we could go with them," John says.

You make a noncommittal noise, trying to ignore the jealousy that is beginning to worm its way into your stomach.

-

The trail to the village is long and hot, and it only takes about fifteen minutes of walking before Roxy's carefree attitude disappears and she's trudging along, sighing loudly every few minutes.

"Diiirk, I'm bored," she whines, throwing an arm around your shoulders and leaning heavily on you.

"Go bother Kanaya or something, I'm busy." You're hot and tired, and in no mood for Roxy's antics.

"Busy doing _what_? Walking? And besides, Kanaya's talking to Rose." She puts emphasis on the last part, causing you to raise an eyebrow.

"You could go talk to Jade," you point out, earning a pout from Roxy.

"You just want me to talk to her so you can talk to _Jake_ ," she huffs, breaking into a grin when you blink once before looking away. "You _do_ just want to talk to Jake! I knew it! Or maybe more than just _talk_ ," she adds, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

You don't say anything, praying that she doesn't notice the heat that's slowly flooding your face.

Of course she does, laughing and dropping her arm from your shoulders. "Oh my God, Dirk."

Your press your mouth into a flat line, staring straight ahead and refusing to look at her, even when she pokes you in the side. It's a relief when she finally scampers off and you relax, until you see her tap Jake on the shoulder and point at you.

 _Fuck_.

Jake stops while the others keep walking, waiting for you to reach him. "Roxy said you had something to tell me, mate."

You keep your face carefully devoid of expression. "Did she? I think she just wanted to talk to Jade privately. Probably to find out what Rose has been up to all this time."

Jake grins conspiratorially. "Ah. Speaking of Rose, have you seen how much she and Kanaya have been talking? Now, I don't mean to gossip, but the two have been practically inseparable since they arrived. I think it's good for her, honestly," Jake continues. "Kanaya always seem to be so serious."

You raise an eyebrow. You had noticed their closeness, but hadn't been paying much attention. You were a lot more concerned with how much Jake was hanging around Jade, to be honest.

Jake continues chattering idly and you occasionally supply a comment. Before you know it, the forest trail has turned into a wide, well-worn path and the sun has disappeared behind ominously dark clouds.

Jake glances up at the clouds with a furrowed brow and a faint frown. "It looks like it may rain."

"The village shouldn't be too far away." You glance over your shoulder at the crunch of cart wheels on the path behind you, calling for the others to step off the trail while the ox-drawn carriage passes. You follow the richly gilded carriage with your eyes, noticing the faint outline of the village on the horizon.

"Looks like some rich noble," Jake observes.

"Probably passing through. The next village over is a lot richer."

At that moment, a cold drop of water lands on your cheek. The sky opens up, light rain turning into a downpour in minutes. By the time you reach the village, you're all soaked and freezing. When you trudge, dripping, into the first hotel you come across, the woman at the front desk casts you a disapproving look.

You let Rose handle the talking and she manages to purchase a couple of rooms as well as the promise of meals sent up in a short while.

As soon as you and Jake slip into your room, he takes off his glasses, trying to wipe off the water on his kimono but only succeeding in making it worse. He makes a frustrated noise before shoving them back on his face and dropping to the floor, sitting cross-legged in a slowly growing pool of water.

You meet his gaze and silently raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't be so condescending, mate. My feet hurt and I'm bloody exhausted. And I can't sit on anything else when I'm soaking wet, now, can I?" He stares back defiantly, water dripping from the tips of his hair.

You shrug. "Fair enough. But if you'd rather dry off I can go grab some towels." You jerk a thumb towards the door and, at Jake's embarrassed scowl, step out into the hallway- nearly running into Rose and Kanaya. They take a step back and you blink in surprise.

"We took the liberty of collecting some dry clothing," Rose says, handing you a small bundle. "Our rooms are just down the hall, but wait a few minutes for us to change if you plan to join us. The food is expected to be sent up shortly."

"Cool, thanks."

The girls are already walking away when you re-enter the room.

"Gadzooks, that was fast!" Jake exclaims.

"Is that even a real word?" You throw him a towel, dropping the kimonos in favour of drying your hair. "I ran into Rose and Kanaya in the hall. They brought everything."

Jake grins, towelling his own hair dry. "Reliable, those two." He pulls at his kimono, baring his shoulder before freeing his arms, one at a time, letting the wet fabric fall around his waist.

Your brain shuts down. "Um."

Jake turns to raise his eyebrows at you, innocent and oblivious. "You don't mind, do you? We're both men, after all."

 _That's kind of the problem_. "What? No, it's totally fine. It's great. I don't mind." You snap your mouth shut, forcing yourself to stop talking.

Jake flashes you a quick smile before returning to drying off, but you can't look away from his bare torso. You've never seen him shirtless before, and damn, what a sight it is.

Jake undoes his obi, letting the belt fall to the floor, and you finally force yourself to look away. Shortly after, his wet kimono hits the floor with a thud. It takes every ounce of your self control to focus on towelling yourself off.

You grope blindly for the fresh kimonos, now behind you, and grab the first one you touch. The material is soft and silky, the same orange as your eyes and decorated with delicate gold filigree and trim. The obi is gold as well, but more muted. You grab your dagger and shuriken off the ground, slipping them into the folds of your kimono once you're dressed.

From behind you you hear a frustrated curse and turn to see Jake, his back to you, struggling to tie his obi.

A smirk tugs at your lips. "Need some help?" You don't wait for a response before walking over, slipping the fabric from his fumbling hands and tying it off in a matter of seconds.

When you step back, Jake turns, giving you a mildly embarrassed smile and stealing the breath from your lungs. His kimono is a rich emerald, the designs and trim a slightly darker shade. His obi is a brilliant green that makes his eyes look incredible. For a second you just stare at him, unable to remember how to speak before finally clearing your throat and turning away. It's much easier to think when you can't see his eyes.

"Should we go and meet up with the girls?"

Jake's voice sounds breathy when he speaks, agreeing quickly and concealing his own weapons before you cross the hall to the other room. You pause at the door, remembering Rose's warning, but when you hear the sound of laughter you decide to enter.

The others are all gathered around a table laden with platters of steaming food. When Roxy sees you she waves you over enthusiastically.

"You guys have to try this! It's _amazing_!"

You spend the rest of the night in the room, adding an occasional comment or smirk while the others talk and laugh. At one point Roxy decides to chuck a pillow at your face, missing by a wide margin and hitting Jade, which leads to a strife that lasts until everyone is yawning. You and Jake stagger back to your room when the sky is starting to lighten, stumbling blearily through the hall and practically collapsing onto your sleeping mats. For the first time in a long while you sleep soundly, too exhausted for nightmares to haunt your dreams.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really too happy with the second half of this one, but I've tried to rework it and it's not getting any better. I decided to try writing full perspective chapters, so this one is from Dirk's and the next will be Dave's.  
> As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy it!

You wake up to a quick rap on your door and a curt "ten minutes". With a sigh you roll over, stretching, and your breath catches in your throat. Jake's faces is inches away, his breathing soft and slow and his eyes closed.

It takes a second for you to pull back and another to recover before you reach over to prod Jake in the side. At first he doesn't move, but at your insistence he swats away your hand and groans.

" _Dirk_." His voice is half irritated, half pleading.

"Get up, English. We have a job to do, remember?"

Jake groans again as he sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning.

 _Damn, that's adorable_. "We've got ten minutes to meet the girls outside, so move it."

Jake blinks at you slowly before a grin splits his face. His eyes are bright. "Good golly, that's right! I'd forgotten for a minute there."

You roll your eyes, standing and pulling Jake up after you. "I'm assuming that we're eating in the village, so grab your shit and let's go."

You wait while Jake gathers his weapons and grabs his glasses form the floor before heading out. You meet the girls in the lobby, slipping out into the bright sunlight and blinking. Compared to the night before the streets are filled with people. The smell of food wafting around the corner causes everyone's head to turn.

"I'm starving," Roxy says, starting off in the direction of the smell.

"Roxy, we have a job to do. We can eat after."

Roxy pouts at you but reluctantly agrees, trudging back dramatically.

It turns out that finding Sollux is a lot harder than you had thought it would be. After a solid hour of walking through the streets in the hot sun, you're almost tempted to give up. Apparently the address doesn't exist, having been abandoned and demolished years ago, and no one's heard of any 'Sollux Captor'.

Rose sighs, long and irritated. "It appears that the mission is futile. We could split up and search the village, but judging by our previous results, it is extremely unlikely we will find anything."

Jade gives Rose a sympathetic smile. "We tried the best we could. Maybe we should get something to eat."

" _Yes_ ," Roxy says gratefully, linking her arm through Jade's. "We can split up to eat and ask around for Sollux."

Jade spares a quick wave before Roxy pulls her away.

You raise an eyebrow at Rose. "Meet back here?"

Another sigh, this one more exhausted. "I suppose."

You turn to Jake. "Come on."

The two of you wander through the streets, checking out each vendor's stall before deciding on custard filled taiyaki. You find a fountain in the centre of a small square and sit on the stone edge, eating your fish-shaped cakes.

"Well mate, what do we do now?" Jake asks through a mouthful.

You lean back as far as you can without tipping into the water, squinting up at the cloudless sky. "No idea. We'll probably have to head back to camp, but I guess it's pretty much up to Rose and Jade. And Kankri, if he has other instruction for us."

Jake sighs. "It really is too bad that we couldn't find him. The girls must be so disappointed." Finished eating, Jake shades his eyes with one hand and looks around the square. "Say, mate, do you think the others would mind if we ducked into some shade for a moment? It's bloody _scorching_."

You smirk, getting to your feet and following Jake into a nearby garden area. Thick-canopied trees cast the edges of the space in shadow. In the centre of the garden a group of people sit on large, flat rocks, writing on scrolls of parchment.

"Well, mate?" Jake says after a while.

You cross your arms and lean against a tree. "Well what?"

Jake rolls his eyes with exaggerated impatience. "Are we going to meet up with everyone? It looks like it's getting late, and we should-"

"Captor! There you are, I've been searching everywhere!" The exasperated voice cuts through the the garden.

You meet Jake's wide eyes for a moment before glancing sideways to see a frazzled looking woman stalking up to a young man on the edge of the group of writers. The dark haired man looks up, ink smeared over one cheek, and blinks different coloured eyes up at the woman.

"Aranea? You thaid that you were gonna be gone for a week."

Aranea stops in front of him, hands on her hips. "That 'week' ended three days ago. I can't believe you didn't notice. And where have you _been_?" She reaches out to wipe at the ink on the other's face and he swats her away.

"I found a place to thtay, I'm not incompetent."

Aranea huffs, seeming to suddenly deflate. "Im not saying you are. I promised Mituna that I would take care of you, though, Sollux."

The moment Mituna's name was mentioned you started over.

Jake speaks before you can. "Excuse me, but are you Sollux Captor, by any chance?"

Two pairs of eyes turn to you, one of them multicoloured and stubborn.

"No."

" _Sollux_ -"

"Oh my God, Aranea, pith of!"

You raise an eyebrow, glancing sideways at Jake who looks as if he can't decide whether to be amused or distressed.

"Pardon me, but it's... rather urgent."

Sollux's scowl returns to Jake. "Kankri thent you, didn't he? Fucking dick." A sigh accompanies the last statement as Sollux drags himself to his feet. "What doeth he want thith time?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, I'm afraid. We're here with some friends that need something decoded. We're meeting them-"

"I'm not getting dragged around the whole village. Aranea, tell them how to get to your houth and they can meet uth there."

Sollux begins to gather up his materials, and by the time Aranea has finished rattling off directions he's already walking away. She follows him with a frustrated look.

You sigh. "Great, our only hope for figuring out what the scroll says is a lisping, whiny tool."

"Oh, don't be mean," Jake says as you start to jog back through the streets. "He may seem like a bit of a hooligan, but I'm sure everything will turn out perfectly fine."

When you round the corner the first thing you see is Roxy, flying at you from out of nowhere and wrapping her arms around your neck.

"Dirk, holy crab- crap! We thought- you were _lost_."

"Um." You can't help but notice the strong smell of alcohol rolling off of her and glance to the others for help. "Is Roxy drunk?"

Jade looks guilty. "When we were getting lunch we ran into a group that challenged Roxy to a drink off. Well, technically Roxy challenged them."

"On the topic of lunch, what took the two of you such a horrendously long time?" Rose's eyes are sharp and accusing.

"We found Sollux."

Roxy squeals, loud and shrill, right beside your ear. "Oh my gog- god Dirk, you _found_ 'im? That's like, a meric- maricle- aw, fuck it." She sags, leaning on you heavily.

You hear a snicker and glare daggers at Jake over Roxy's head.

"So you managed to track down the scholar. And where, exactly, is he?"

Jake explains quickly, but you're distracted from his erratic gestures by a soft snore.

"Oh hell no. Roxy you did not fall asleep on me," you mutter, shaking her shoulder. It takes a terrifyingly long time for her to crack open one eye.

"Whassat? I'm sleepin'."

"Roxy, we're leaving- and how the hell did you manage to fall asleep standing up in, like, three seconds flat?"

She wiggles the finger of one hand. "Magics."

"Dirk, come on! We're going to meet up with Sollux!"

You glance over your shoulder to see the others already a short distance away, Jade waving at you enthusiastically. You take a look at Roxy and sigh. It only takes a second to convince her to climb onto your back, where she nearly chokes you in her drunken excitement before promptly falling asleep, head resting on your shoulder and arms draped loosely across your chest.

You follow Jake to a surprisingly nice building, near the village school. Aranea answers the door, talking happily to Jake while she leads you through the house and into a cluttered room. Sollux glances up from his work, the uninked end of a calligraphy brush in his mouth.

"You thaid a few otherth, not an entire fucking clan."

" _Sollux_ ," Aranea chastises before offering you an apologetic smile. "He doesn't like crowds much, I'm afraid. That's where we differ."

Roxy mumbles something unintelligible in her sleep, shifting slightly. Rose steps forwards, tugging off her pack and pulling out a small scroll of parchment. "We were informed that you happened to study, and excel in, the art of cryptography. We have a sensitive message that must be decoded."

Sollux actually looks interested, reaching out to take the scroll. Rose pulls it back just before he can touch it.

"And the content must be kept a secret. Is that understood?"

"Yeth, alright, fine. Jutht give it here already." As soon as he gets his hands on the scroll, Sollux's face changes, seeming to light up with satisfaction. "I can decode thith. Haven't theen an encryption like thith in yearth, tho I might be a little ruthty, but I'll get it done." He grabs another sheet of parchment, dipping his brush into an inkwell before his eyes tip upwards. "I can't work when the entire idiot brigade ith in my workthpace."

Aranea leads you out of the room with a fond, if disapproving, glance at Sollux. "I'm sorry about him. He's not usually so grumpy."

You all stand just outside the room, too tense to do anything else. Your arms are beginning to burn from Roxy's weight.

When you're contemplating waking Roxy up, or at least setting her down, the door to the study finally slides open, slowly and solemnly. Sollux's face looks drawn and even more inky.

"It'th done, but it'th not good." He waits a heartbeat for everyone to crowd around him. Even Roxy wakes up long enough to pay attention. "The wording'th weird, and the tranthlation might not be exact, but the githt of the methage ith a warning. It bathically thayth 'the thpider was a warning, the camp ith next, and eventually all the thcum will be eradicated'. That'th the literal tranthlation, ath good ath I can do."

For a moment you're frustrated- all this work for a confusing, ambiguous, and frankly juvanile-sounding answer?- but then you catch the stiffness of Rose's shoulders and Jade's wide eyes.

"Spider... is that referring to Vriska? And what happened to her eye?"

"It does seem likely. The injury coupled with her nickname renders the notion probable, at the very least."

"Vriska? She was hurt?"

Jade winces at Aranea's outburst but Rose keeps talking, looking pensive.

"'The camp is next'. That seems to be pointing out our camp as the next target. Although I'm not sure what the last part means, to be truthful. It could be referring to a number of things- although if I had to hazard a guess I would say it could be a reference to all ninja, even if that is a bit extreme."

"Wow, you guyth mutht have really pithed thomeone off." There's a sound at the door and, after a slight hesitation, Aranea disappears down the hall. No one speaks until she returns, obviously curious as she hands you a letter. "This came for you. From some traveling ronin."

You raise an eyebrow, reading the letter quickly. "It's a message from Kankri. He wants Kanaya and Roxy to go with Rose and Jade to their camp. Jake and I are supposed to meet up with Dave, John, and Gamzee." You leave out the location, still wary of trusting Sollux and Aranea. Rose and Jade as well, for that matter.

Rose looks irritated. "I don't see the necessity of-"

"Aw, Rosie, don't you want to spend time with us?" Roxy sounds heartbroken and Rose looks abashed.

"I only meant that we don't need an escort."

"It'll been fuuun! Me an' Kanaya can meet your friends!" When everyone eventually splits up to go their separate ways, Jade and Roxy pulling you and Jake into friendly hugs before you slip away into the forest, you can't help feeling a flash of unease. Hopefully Kankri's mysteriousness will be explained when you reach the others.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Dave's perspective, as promised. (Terrified screaming as I try to keep six different characters in character).  
> As always, thank you so much for reading :)

You narrowly manage to catch Gamzee's arm as he stumbles over a root, halting his headlong tumble into the thorny underbrush.

"Wow, motherfucking thanks, brother," Gamzee says as he rights himself.

"Guys come on, it's right up here," John announces, appearing from around a bend in the trees and bouncing enthusiastically on the balls of his feet.

You start after him, watching the ground carefully until the forest path branches off into something that could be passable as a narrow game trail. John ducks onto the trail, having to slow down to push the branches out of his path. You keep enough space between you so that the branches he release don't hit you.

The trail climbs up for a short stretch before descending steeply. John grabs the bushes tightly to prevent himself from falling and, after your foot slides on loose pebbles, you decide to do the same.

When the trail finally levels out, you push through a wall of foliage to find a small clearing, encased by plants, with a shack in the centre.

John grins at you before darting over to the wooden building. You spare a glance for Gamzee, who's placidly observing a bug crawling over a leaf, before trailing after John.

John stands at the now open door, peering into the dark building. "Dave, do you think there'll be ghosts inside?"

You snort. "Ghosts? Nah, you don't need to worry about ghosts. Now _ghouls_ , on the other hand..."

 

You smirk as John shoves you lightly, making a face. "Don't be ridiculous, Dave. This isn't a graveyard."

You glance into the dark, dusty shack again. "Huh. Could've fooled me."

John laughs before stepping into the building, followed closely behind by you. You stumble around blindly until your hand meets something that feels like an oil lamp. You feel around for matches and light it, casting a soft orange glow over the single room.

The shack is windowless, with a tarp-covered mound in the far corner.

"Think it's a dead body?"

John rolls his eyes, pulling the tarp back to reveal stacked food provisions and an assortment of weapons and medical supplies.

"Awesome, I'm starving," John says brightly, rummaging through the pile before producing some wrapped strips of dried and salted meat.

You chew on one as John steps out to call Gamzee, the latter closing the door behind them before dropping to the ground. John follows suit so you sit as well, leaning back against the wall of the shack.

"Can we go into the village? To see what it looks like?"

You raise an eyebrow. "Don't you mean to screw around for a few hours?"

John grins, not looking sheepish in the slightest. "Okay, yeah, but we should also look around to see the layout. That'll make it easier to navigate in the dark."

"Except we're wearing ninja clothes."

"There are kimonos with the supplies over there, though," John insists, pointing. "Maybe they'll fit."

You roll your eyes. "Fine, if you can find something that works, we can go. But not for too long. We'll need to get ready for tonight."

John sifts through the pile of supplies, throwing back a purple kimono for Gamzee and a red one for you. You turn the material over in your hands, frowning at the blue obi that accompanies it.

"Oh, whoops. Sorry, that's mine," John says, crawling over to exchange a red obi for the blue one. "These ones will _probably_ fit."

You flick the back of John's head and he pulls back, looking comically indignant.

After you're all changed, you arm yourselves, reluctantly leaving your katana beside Dirk's- brought on Kankri's insistence.

Once you pass through the trail, the forest opens back up into a path that leads to the nearby village. As soon as you enter the village, John grabs your arm and pulls you over to a nearby bridge, looking over the side.

"Dave, look! Koi! Can we buy something to feed them?"

You sigh before letting him pull you over to a nearby stand selling simple buns. You lean against the railing of the bridge while John tears off pieces of the bread, throwing them into the water with gusto. Gamzee watches the fish with wide eyes, leaning dangerously far over the railing and whispering quietly about the "motherfuckin miracles in the water".

It doesn't take long for John to get bored of the fish and hop off of the bridge, wandering aimlessly through the streets and leading you deep into the village while Gamzee stops every few seconds to stare at something.

John still has the rest of the bread in his hand, which is probably the reason that a small, dirty figure leaps out from the shadows and tackles him.

You spit out a sharp curse, sprinting forwards while a hand flies to the small dagger tucked inside your clothing.

The figure, clad in an oversized green kimono, scrambles for the wedge of bread while John is still recovering from his shock.

You're tempted to let the attacker go- it's not like you need the bread- but when it lifts its head and catches sight of your dagger, the now-clearly-female attacker flicks her wrists. Three long metal blades shoot out of the knuckles of her gloves and she's on you instantly.

You swear, mostly out of surprise, as you bring up your dagger to block her claws. She strikes three times in rapid succession, forcing you to draw a second dagger to fend off the blows.

You hear John shout and plant a foot on the girl's stomach, knocking her back long enough for you to take in two other raggedly dressed strangers. The one in front of John has a staff that splits in the middle to form a blade and sheath. She fights with both halves, blocking Johns attacks skillfully. For a blind girl, she's not half bad. The other attacker, far larger than his female companions, is armed only with a splintered piece of wood. He seems to have the upper hand until Gamzee pulls out a long, sturdy cord. Despite his usual attitude, Gamzee's surprisingly vicious when he needs to be.

You look back just in time to block the smallest girl's next slash. The exchange draws out a bit longer, but you can tell the girl is tiring. She's breathing hard, and you spare a moment to feel a stab of pity. He clothes are loose on her as she leaps away, but not just because they're a size too big. All three of the attackers look horribly tired and underfed.

Suddenly the girl freezes, and you barely manage to stop your next strike from landing.

" _Equius_!"

At the girl's scream, you glance over your shoulder to see Gamzee, his opponent on his knees on front of him, the cord wrapped tightly around his neck.

Gamzee's head snaps up at the shout and his brows furrow, the cord loosening slightly in his grip. "Equius? I all up and knew a motherfucker named that a long time ago."

With surprising speed, the girl bursts past you, flying at Gamzee with her battle claws extended. One hand rakes down Gamzee's face before he stumbles back, dropping the cord around her friend's neck.

The girl places herself between Gamzee and Equius with a fierce expression as her companion pulls the cord from his throat, gasping.

"Gamzee!" John cries when he sees the ninja crouched low, blood dripping from three identical lines across his face.

The small girl's hands lower slightly as her head tips to the side. "Gamzee?"

"Not Gamzee Makara," the blind girl, now standing amicable beside John, asks.

"Sure is, motherfuckers. Aw man, I never thought I'd see you again, my sisters and brother." Gamzee tries to give a lopsided smile, wincing when the movement pulls at the scratches.

The girl takes a concerned step towards him.

"Wait, hold up," you say, lifting your pointer fingers beside your daggers before turning them on Gamzee. "You know these guys?"

"Sure do. These motherfuckers were my best fucking friends from a whole lotta years back. This is a motherfuckin' miracle."

You sigh, tiredly shoving your daggers back into your kimono. "That's great and all, but you're gushing blood. Like, literally. Shit's ridiculous, spewing outta your face like a fucking geyser or something."

"Dave means that we should probably go back to the safe house and patch it up," John supplies.

You finally convince Gamzee to return and get his face fixed up, even if it does require bringing the three attackers (Equius, Nepeta, and Terezi, apparently) along.

By the time Terezi- who happens to know some basic medical techniques- stops the bleeding on Gamzee's face, everyone has gotten over the altercation and is chatting comfortably while the three newcomers scarf down all the food in sight. The three apologize heartily for jumping you in the street.

"We've known Gamzee since we were all purrty little," Nepeta explains after finishing a pack of crackers. "We all used to live in the same village before it burned down." She reaches over to snatch one of Terezi's meat strips. The blind girl slaps her hand good-naturedly before continuing the story.

"It was pretty bad. The whole village went up. All our parents and siblings died. We only survived because we were playing out in the forest." Terezi shrugs. "When we saw the burning village, I tried to run in to save my family. It was stupid, I know. That's how I got these cool eyes." She winks.

"Your families all died?" John asks, sounding crushed. "That's terrible."

Nepeta shrugs. "It wasn't that bad. We had each other. We though everyone else died in the fur." She glances at Gamzee. "I'm purrfectly happy that we were wrong."

"How did you manage to escape, if you don't mind my asking?" Equius says.

"Kurloz and Mituna had me and Sollux on the road. We were heading to the next motherfuckin' town over. When we got there we heard that the whole place had caught on fire. After that, they brought us to the ninja village. We were all still pretty little, even my brother, so we stayed there. Except for Sollux," Gamzee corrects himself. "That little motherfucker didn't much like living that way, so he up and went to a town to study as a scholar."

"And how about Mituna?" Terezi asks.

Gamzee frowns. "That motherfucker went and got in an accident. Almost drowned. His mind's a little funny now. My brother got caught on a mission, too, and they cut out his tongue and stitched his mouth all up. He's the camp healer now."

Terezi looks a bit sad. "Oh. I just thought it would be nice to see them again. Mituna and I were pretty close when he was courting Latula."

Gamzee brightens. "Aw hey, maybe you motherfuckers can come to the camp. There's no way I'm gonna leave you all here without a home."

Nepeta's eyes widen. "Really, Gamzee?"

Gamzee glances up at you and John. "What do you say, my brothers?"

You take in John's furious nodding and sigh. "We don't really have a choice. We can't just leave them here. But it screws up our plans a bit. I guess you could stay here with them while John and I take care of the-"

The door to the shack flies open and everyone inside tenses before you recognize the familiar, albeit confused, faces of Jake and Dirk.

"Took you two long enough. Now get in here so we can figure out the plan."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry darlings, this chapter's a bit shorter than usual and a little rushed. I wanted to get this posted because I'm going away, so I don't know if I'll be able to write anything for the next couple of weeks.

"For the _last time_ , it's the only way that works and Kankri can go shove a cactus up his ass," Dave snaps, throwing his hands in the air in an uncharacteristic display of frustration. "It's his own fault for trying to make everything so damn complicated in the first place."

Jake frowns and starts to point out that Kankri gave you all specific orders that you should follow, but you cut him off, gesturing to the three scruffy figures huddled in one corner of the shack.

"Sorry, but I agree with Dave. We can't leave these guys here, and we can't drag them through the mountains."

After you arrived at the shack to find Dave, John, Gamzee, and three unfamiliar faces waiting, Dave had explained Kankri's orders. Apparently, after Dave and John had finish their mission in the village- an assassination commissioned by one of the daimyos - the five of you were supposed to head through the nearby mountains to find a temple. The monks had a message to be delivered to the priestesses on the other side of the mountain pass. The mountain pass which just so happened to be filled with both hostile samurai and a stronghold for the vicious ninja clan knows as the Midnight Crew.

Jake crosses his arms and huffs in exasperation. "Than what do you chaps suggest we do? There's a reasons that Kankri intended for the five of us to go through the pass; three people trying to get through would be slaughtered!"

"Not necessarily. It would be easier for three people to sneak through."

Jake glares at you. "But what about confrontation? You can't expect to get through without a fight."

"Well someone's going to have to take those three back to the camp," Dave points out.

Jake makes a frustrated noise and flops onto his back in a very undignified manner.

"I'm sure that we'll be fine," John says in an effort to pacify Jake. "We'll just have to be careful. Besides, we've been on missions like this before."

Jake sighs and sits back up, worry all over his face. "I know, mate, I'm just concerned."

Dave clears his throat. "It's almost dark. John and I need to leave soon, so we'd better get this worked out now."

Jake shoves one hand through his hair, making it stick up at odd angles. "Are you sure you can handle it with just the three of you? Kankri wouldn't have sent all five of us if-"

"Kankri can suck it," Dave replies. "But yeah, we can handle it. Handle it like fucking merchandise that no one actually intend to buy, but that everyone picks up anyways because people are assholes."

John laughs and elbows him in the side. "We should probably get going."

You're not looking forward to your own long journey back to camp, especially at night, but everyone agrees that it's best for Kankri to know what's going on as soon as possible.

Dave and John pull up their masks and hoods, donning their weapons and saying goodbye. John pulls Jake into a quick hug that makes your stomach twist uncomfortably, and you offer Dave a fist bump before then they're on their way, blending into the darkness as soon as they leave the shack.

You start gathering your own supplies shortly after, exchanging the kimonos for your regular ninja clothes and katana. You fill a pack with some of the provisions before heading out- but not before Gamzee pulls all three of his friends into a hug and says something along the lines of "wish I was going with you motherfuckers".

The moon is a thin scratch in the sky and the night is dark, keeping your progress thought the forest slow. The blind girl, Terezi, has the most trouble. She uses her staff to feel for roots, but stumbles more than the rest of you. After Nepeta trips for the second time Equius lifts her onto his shoulders, and despite her protests that she's fine, she sounds exhausted. Jake trips into you once and you barely stop yourself from falling.

You finally cut thought the forest and reach the road, trudging along in silence, save for the occasional yawn.

The sun is starting to rise when you finally break off of the trail, slipping into familiar forest. You move faster here, recognizing the paths and knowing where the tangles of roots and fallen trees are.

At some point Jake took the lead, and as you follow him through the forest the trees take on a formation that causes a wave of discomfort. You don't realize why until a clearing opens up ahead.

You make a strangled noise, halting so abruptly that Terezi bumps into you.

When Jake realizes you aren't following him he turns, his expression changing from confused curiosity to concern. "Dirk?"

It takes you a moment to force your mouth to form words. All you can see is puddles of blood, bodies slumped on the muddy ground, Bro backing into a tree-

You clench one hand, forcing your face blank and your voice flat as you turn to the left. "This way, come on."

Jake doesn't make any move to follow, tilting his head to the side. "But the camp is straight through here, just on the other side of the clearing."

"This way's faster, come on." You don't wait for a response this time, pushing through the bushes to skirt the clearing. You can hear the others following.

By the time you reach the bridge the sun is up fully. The mist around the camp is thinning in the light and Kankri catches sight of you from a distance, watching you with an unreadable expression until you reach him.

"Would you care to explain what is going on? I though I had left clear instructions with Dave for all five of you to journey to the temple."

He pauses to take a breath, no doubt about to launch into a long speech, but Kurloz comes up behind him, laying one hand on Kankri's shoulder.

Kankri jumps before launching into an indignant reprimand about how coming up behind people like that is frightening and inconsiderate. Kurloz doesn't pay him any attention, offering a silent greeting to Terezi, Nepeta, and Equius. The corners of his mouth pull up, looking horrifically frightening with the stitches stretching them.

After their initial shock, the three swarm around him, Nepeta and Terezi talking excitedly. You'd never really realized how tall Kurloz was until Nepeta was craning her head back to stare up at him.

Jake throws an arm around your shoulders with a sight of relief. "Gadzooks, I'm ready to drop! That was certainly an adventure, but I'm about to fall over."

You make a noise of agreement, appreciating Jake's warm closeness for a moment before pulling away, trudging over to Kankri, who doesn't look happy.

"We found them in the village," you say shortly, trying to get the explanation over as fast as possible. Right now, the only thing you want to do is sleep. "They're orphans, they had no place to go, so we brought them back here."

"And the mission? I assured the monks that a group would be sent to retrieve and deliver their message to the priestesses.

"They're still going. Dave, John, and Gamzee." You try to stave off a yawn.

Kankri's eyes widen. "Just the three of them?"

He _must_ be surprised, to have his sentence less than twenty words.

You reply with a confirming grunt before turning away and starting up the path to your lodging building. Jake walks close beside you, but you're both too tired to talk.

Your feet hurt and your eyes burn and you just want to sleep for a few days. The moment you reach your room you collapse on the sleeping mat, not even bothering to take off your katana. You sigh into the soft pillow, letting your eyes close and sleep overcome you.

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The good news is that I'm back from vacation, but the bad news is that with school starting up, my updates will probably be less frequent. Thank you all for reading :)

You hate to admit it, but you're glad that John insisted on going to the village during the day. The streets are winding and the thin moon barely provides any light. As it is, you have to move slowly to stay unnoticed. By the time you reach the elaborate building where your target lives, the moon is already high in the sky.

You and John share a quick look before slipping around to the back. Being the home of a daimyo, it has samurai patrolling the area. You consider sneaking past them, but quickly realize that someone would notice you, and then you'd have the entire guard on your tail.

In the back gardens, you crouch in the shadows of a grove of trees, still as stone while John deftly pulls a small reed tube from his belt and loads it with a tiny blowdart. You know that the tranquillizing darts will last for a few hours at the very least.

Luckily, the patrol is spread out enough for John to take out one samurai and reload by the time a second, curious guard hurries over. When a small group of guards round the corner, catching sight of their fallen comrades, you curse silently. Their hands have barely brushed their katana hilts when you burst from the bushes, flash-stepping to the back of the group and smashing your own sword hilt into the last samurai's temple.

You're on the next guard before the first one hits the ground, knocking him out before he can make any noise. You spin around to take care of a third, almost tripping over the prone bodies of two other- heavily sedated- samurai. A swift blow takes down the last man, and John races over to you, shoving the blowdart tube into his belt and pulling out his nunchuks.

"Should we hide them in the bushes?" John asks quietly.

You shake your head. "We're already behind. Let's get inside and kill this guy."

John nods, carefully sliding back the screen and darting inside with you close behind him.

While you run through the halls, following Kankri's extensive directions, you spare a moment to feel a burst of pity. Although the daimyo's son is probably a huge asshole- enough of one to become an assassination target, anyhow- he's probably not _that_ bad of a guy. You know it's mostly just politics, but your stomach always knots when you have to kill someone that never did anything to you.

_Fucking Kankri. Even if we do need the cash, there are other ways to get money than slaughtering people._

You know John doesn't like it either, but you're careful not to let your discomfort show. If you did, he'd be even more reluctant to follow through with the mission. As it is, he almost didn't agree to come, only giving in because Kankri insisted you were the most likely to succeed and John hadn't wanted you to go alone. On the way over, John had lamented the idea until you'd said that the lord was probably a huge asshole that spent his whole life in luxury while the townspeople and farmers starved to death. After that, he hadn't complained as much, although his mouth still had that grim twist that looked so wrong on him.

You're beginning to think that your assumption was correct; the interior paper screens are covered in elegant designs, richly coloured even in the dim light. The designs start to take on gold filigree, and you suspect that you're nearing your target's quarters. Your suspicions are proved to be correct when John slows, stopping front of the most ornate screen you've seen yet.

The pause is brief, just long enough for John to pull back the screen. The second your eyes fall on the sleeping mat, you dart forwards, katana raised.

You're honesty surprised when the figure under the blankets twitches, jerking up an arm and catching your katana on the short, curved blade of a kama. The clang of metal brings John into the room, sliding the screen shut behind him to buy you an extra minute if guards come running.

You pull back, knocking his kama to the side, but he reaches over to snatch another one off the ground and block your next strike. You take a moment to notice that one of the kamas has a chain connected to the bottom of the long wooden handle and to take in a furious snarl before you're pushed back by a surprisingly strong shove.

You wince, realizing that the noise will probably bring the entire building running.

The snarling figure leaps at you, slashing the air with his kamas as you jump back, retaliating with your katana. You block his attacks repeatedly, eventually managing to catch both his kamas with your sword and knock it above his head in order to deliver a swift, powerful kick to his stomach.

You hear the breath go out of him as he's knocked back, bending over instinctively before lifting his kamas once more.

" _Fuck_ ," he roars, fending off your next attack. Despite being a daimyo's pampered son, he can actually fight fairly well. Well enough to prevent his immediate execution, at least.

You attack with renewed vigour as he starts spitting curses loud enough to wake the dead. After a couple more ineffective attacks, John hurries over to back you up.

You spare a moment to wish you could flash-step as well as Dirk before the enemy in front of you draws your full concentration.

He's fast, and a hell of a lot stronger than he looks, but with John's help you manage to press him backwards. When he finally stumbles, falling backwards to the ground, you waste no time in bringing up your sword for the finishing blow.

You can tell from the way his eyes flash that he knows he's done for. You're already bringing your blade down when he flicks his wrist, sending one kama hurtling towards John in a last effort to take down at least one of his attackers.

You don't think; your body seems to move on it's own. The second you register the movement of the weapon, you're on autopilot. And apparently autopilot directs you to hurl yourself into John, knocking him down and catching the kama's blade on your upper arm. The sharp metal burns fire into your skin and you can't stifle a pained grunt.

You push yourself off of John, scrambling to grab your katana which you _dropped when you jumped in front of him, fuck fuck fuck-_

You're knocked back by a heavy weight and you reach up to swing a fist at your attacker. He ducks and you knee him in the stomach before rolling away from him. He reaches out and grabs your arms, right where his kama cut it, and you grit your teeth, kicking out.

He doesn't stay down for long, leaping at you as soon as he's kicked away. He grabs your arm again, fingers digging into the wound viciously, and your vision goes white with pain. You lash out, dully feeling your fist connect with something, and the wight falls away.

Grimacing, you struggle to your knees to find your attacker doing the same, one hand on his throat and the other covered in your blood. The fucker certainly has determination.

Both his kamas lay across the room, and you dully realize that you must have kicked the other one away when you were struggling. You start to stand, readying yourself to lunge for your katana, when he hurls himself towards you.

Almost as soon as he began to move he falls to the ground with a loud thump, the chain of John's nunchucks wrapped around his ankles.

John steps in front of you, holding a small knife.

"John?" Your voice is rough and you clear your throat.

"Don't worry, Dave, I've got this." Despite the brave words you can hear the tenseness in his voice, and although his hand doesn't tremble, you know that he doesn't want to follow through with it.

You force yourself to your feet, taking a moment to check your balance before putting a hand on his arm. "I'll do it."

A rough voice cuts in, loud and venomous. "Why don't you assholes stop arguing over who gets to kill me and just _do_ it already, you cocksucking fucks!"

You take a moment to look at the speaker, sprawled ground in a moonbeam, and pause. While fighting him, with darkness and quick movement preventing it, you hadn't really taken any time to _look_ at your opponent. And now that you do...

"Jesus, how old _are_ you?"

A snarl is his response, and with the light on his face you can see the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, the scratch above his eye....

"None of your fucking business, you mucus-crusted snot-bag." His hands flail for a moment as he struggles into a sitting position, moving to pull at the chain around his ankles with a scowl.

You know that you should grab your katana and finish the job, but you can't seem to make yourself stop staring at him. You've never had anyone fight back, much less hold their own against you.

"Dave?" John says quietly, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, just a second." You turn back to the figure in front of you, who is now swearing violently as he pulls forcefully at the chain. "You look like a fucking kid."

He abandons his efforts to free himself and looks at you with outrage. "Excuse you, fuckass, I'm not a _kid_. I'm twenty-fucking-one, you ignorant shitsniffer."

Despite yourself you feel your eyebrows shoot up. You honestly hadn't been expecting to be sent after someone your age. You hear a small noise beside you and turn to see John, wide eyed and openmouthed.

"What? No way!"

"Yes, you stupid fuck! Now either get this goddamn chain _off_ of me of do what you came here to do!" He kicks his legs emphatically to illustrate his point.

John bites his lip and turns to you with an expression you fully recognize.

"Oh, hell no."

"Daave."

"Hell fucking no."

"Daaaave, come on."

"No. Goddamit, Egbert, no."

"But Dave, he's _our_ age."

You cross your arms and level John with a stern look. "We've got a job to do, and it doesn't involve being a humanitarian."

John just looks at you with pleading blue eyes. "Dave please."

The silence drags on for a solid minute before you pinch the bridge of your nose and sigh, long and weary. "I can't fucking believe you."

A grin splits his face, revealing his teeth and scrunching the corners of his eyes. He whirls around and drops onto the ground, reaching over to untangle the chain around the glowering man's ankles. When he has his nunchucks back, he leans back on his heels and holds out a hand to the stranger.

"Hi, I'm John!"

The stranger looks baffled, staring at John's outstretched hand before glancing to you with confusion written all over his face.

"What. The _fuck_."

You shake your head slightly as you cross the room, finally retrieving your katana from the ground. "The council has elected to let you live. You can get on with your life of tedious richness. Inhumane, I know, but-"

"Dave, shut up," John laughs, grabbing the stranger's hand and pulling him to his feet.

"I- why?" The stranger stutters, voice the quietest than you've heard it.

"Long story short, John doesn't want to kill you." You shrug, feigning nonchalance.

Before the stranger can recover too much, you catch John's eye and jerk your head towards the door. Kankri won't be happy, but there's no way you're going to kill the kid now. You hadn't even wanted to go through with it before.

John gives the stranger one last smile before hurrying over to you.

"Wait- wait, where the fuck are you going?"

The voice is a snarl, and you spin around, immediately wary.

"Dude, we're leaving. Consider yourself lucky that you're not dead and leave it at that."

The stranger's hands clench into fists, but he doesn't say anything else.

You wait a couple of seconds before turning away, reaching to slide open the screen that leads into the next room.

John yelps and you whip around to see the stranger tackle him to the ground, snarling.

"Who the fuck sent you after me? Was it English?"

You're on him instantly, gabbing him by the shoulders as you slam into him and rolling him off of John. The move puts him on top of you, so you bring up your knees to meet his stomach viciously, shoving him to the ground as he doubles over. You twist one of his arms behind his back, planting a knee in the centre of his back as you shove him facedown into the floor.

"What the fuck is your problem? I'll kill you right now if you're going to pull shit like that."

"Dave, wait!"

You glance up to take in John's concerned expression. "Are you seriously going to defend this asshole when he just attacked you _again_?"

John kneels beside you, prodding your shoulder. "Get off of him for a minute."

"Are you fucking serious."

" _Dave_."

You stare at him for a moment before sliding off of the stranger, drawing your dagger in case he decides to attack again.

John turns to the stranger with a small smile. "Are you okay?"

"What the fuck kind if question is that?"

John smile widens. "You said something about someone sending us after you? And someone named English?"

The stranger glares sullenly at John. "You assholes were sent by him, weren't you?"

"We don't even know who he is," you reply flatly.

"He's the fucking shogun, how do you not know who Lord English is, you stupid-"

"Woah, wait, _that_ Lord English? But why would he want you dead?"

"Because he made a deal with the Grand Highblood, you stupid fuck. That's why English is trying to have me killed. I'm the only son of Jack Noir, and adopted, so he wants me dead to move the lineage to the Highblood family."

John tilts his head. "Wait, who's the Highblood family?"

The stranger huffs. "Another daimyo family. He has two sons, but I haven't seen them in years. Word is that he keeps them shut up in the castle so that they don't risk getting assassinated. I guess they're worried that Noir will retaliate."

"So- wait, that's your dad, right? Why doesn't he set up a better guard? I mean, we haven't exactly been quiet in here."

The stranger glares at you. "First of all, fuck you. I can take care of myself. Second, he's away on... business... with almost all the guards and soldiers. There's only about a handful left."

John catches your eyes and mouths _oops_.

"Lord English probably sent him away on purpose, so that the Highblood's assassins had a better chance. I guess it worked, because you fucks are the third group in the last week."

"Whoa, really?"

"The guards handled most of the others. How did you get through them, anyways? I didn't hear any fighting." He sounds grudgingly impressed.

You roll your eyes. "Look, not that this isn't a fascinating conversation, but we have another mission. And after royally fucking up _this_ one, we need to try to salvage our last shreds of dignity and do what we're supposed to for once."

The stranger's eyes narrow. "Another mission?"

"Yeah, we have to-"

"John, don't _tell_ him, holy fuck. Kankri'll-"

The stranger suddenly draws himself up, face twisting. " _Kankri_? As in Kankri fucking Vantas?"

"You know him? Oh, woah, that's so cool!"

"Know him? _Know_ him? That goddamn pile of steaming feces is my older brother. He fucking ran away right after we came here. I thought he was fucking _dead_."

"Wait, so Kankri authorized a mission to assassinate you?" You can't keep the surprise out of your voice. "Wow, and all this time I thought he was just a preachy windbag. Who knew he had a vicious killing streak as well?"

"Shut the fuck up," the stranger snaps, sounding wounded.

"Jeez, alright, calm your-"

"Dave, leave him alone."

You mockingly salute. "Yes, sir. And we have to leave _now_. Before the entire town wakes up to find a couple of ninjas trying to murder the daimyo's son."

"Oh, right! We have to meet up with Gamzee and start crossing the pass!"

"What pass?"

"None of your fucking business," you say shortly.

"The mountain pass that leads to the temple."

You turn to John, not even bothering to hide your shock. "Why don't you tell him where camp is, while you're at it?"

John bites his lip, looking sheepish. "Sorry. I think we can trust him though."

"I'm coming," the stranger interrupts.

"What," you deadpan.

"The pass... it's where Noir is, with the troops. I'm not staying here and waiting for more assassins," he snaps, sounding decided. "I'm coming with you, and if you don't let me, I'll tell the shogun everything I know about where you're going."

"What makes you think the shogun would care?"

The stranger stubbornly crosses his arms. "I heard he's been authorizing samurai to kill any ninjas they find, so he'll probably care."

You bite back a curse, turning a glare on John. "See why it's not a good idea to tell the people we're supposed to kill where we're going?"

John shoots you an apologetic look, but his eyes are bright and a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Sorry, Dave. I don't think it's too bad, though. It's good that he's coming with us! Oh- by the way, I never got your name," he adds, turning to the stranger, who hesitates for a moment before replying.

"Karkat."

John grins at him, grabbing one of the kamas off of the floor and handing it to Karkat. "We should probably hurry. I think the sun's coming up."

You sigh, sheathing your weapons and starting out the back entrance, glancing around for any guards that you might have missed.

A loud shout startles you, and you turn to see Karkat trip over a mat on the floor. John helps him up and you sigh inwardly.

_What have we gotten ourselves into?_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I've been swamped with work and haven't really had much time to write (as an apology this chapter is extra long). I doubt that I'll be able to write more often, though, so updates might be restricted to something like once a month.  
> The good news is that we've finally reach the Dirk/Jake, though!  
> Also, I'd love to hear from you all in the comments :)

Today has not been your day. You were dragged out of bed at some ungodly hour and forced to endure one of Kankri's lengthy tirades, which wasn't helped when you fell asleep halfway through. Of course, this spawned a second lecture which lasted well into the morning. You only survived _that_ one because you fully intended to head straight back to bed as soon as it was over.

Of course, then Jake had to happen. Apparently an hour of sleep was enough to completely reenergize him, because as soon as you escaped Kankri- Jake bouncing and you practically stumbling- he had asked you to train him. Asked you with those wide, pleading emerald eyes that you just couldn't refuse. And so, of course, you wound up agreeing to race him up the mountainside after he told you he already knew how to scale it.

You're currently scrambling up the mountain, Jake just above you and to your left. You have to be at least fifteen feet off the ground by now, and a not-so-gentle wind has started to pick up.

A scattering of loose pebbles and dirt rains down on you as the wind dislodges it, and you close your eyes, leaning your forehead against the rough rock in front of you. When you raise your face again, you can feel the debris running through your hair. Half of it scatters back into the breeze while the other half falls down the back of your shirt.

"Come on, mate, I'm sure you can do better than that!" Jake calls down, words snatched away by the increasingly rough wind.

You look up, taking a moment to let your tired eyes focus, and see Jake grinning down at you from much higher up. You let out a sigh that bounces off the rock face before hauling your weary body further up the mountainside.

As you climb, the wind gets more and more vicious, nearly tearing you from the rock at one point and slamming you against it at another. You can feel a few raindrops land on your skin, ice cold and foreboding. Multiple times, your hands nearly slip from the crevices that act as handholds and it's all you can do to painstakingly haul yourself up the stone and finally, _finally_ , collapse in the small cave set nearly forty feet above the ground.

Your muscles are sore and you feel unsteady and shaky as you push yourself into sitting position against the far wall. You focus on steadying your breaths- at least, until Jake sidles up against you and shatters your concentration.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough, old chap! It's bloody freezing up here, though." He shivers against your side, almost as if to prove his point.

It takes a monumental effort to turn your head to look at him, and you can't even hold back a yawn. Jake laughs in response, shifting so that you're leaning on him.

"You really _are_ tired, huh, Dirk? If you want to rest for a while, I don't mind."

You try to formulate a response, but your brain can't work fast enough and you spend a good second just staring at Jake before letting your head fall against his shoulder. He's warm and soft, and the last thing you're conscious of is his arms wrapping around you.

-

When you crack open your eyes, you're forced to squint against the bright light that hails the end of the storm. The sky is still grey, but somehow as brilliant as a clear midday.

You start to stretch before you notice the body still pressed up against your own, one arm loosely around your waist and his head resting against yours. You try not to move, but wince as Jake shifts, his head slipping to your shoulder for a moment before he pulls back to blink blearily up at you. He moves to rub one eye, pushing his glasses up and yawning. You think it just might be the most adorable thing you've ever seen.

"Golly, I must've been more tired than I thought! I didn't mean to fall asleep." To your dismay he pulls away, straightening and stretching his arms above his head with a cute little grunt.

You look away before he can see the heat rising to your face, noticing for the first time that, even from this high up, a mist seems to be rising over the forest. You frown.

"The rocks will be soaked. It's not going to be easy getting down."

"Well then, we'd best get started."

You crawl to the edge of the cave, lowering yourself slowly over the side and onto the slick rock. You spare a moment to recognize what is probably one of the stupidest things you've ever done before starting your descent. It goes painfully slowly, and by the time you're halfway down your fingers are nearly numb from the water and chill air. You're careful to talk to Jake, guiding him down after testing the way yourself. Every inch you move down, you feel moderately less anxious; less of a distance to fall if you slip.

It almost gets _more_ difficult near the base, where the mist hangs thick in the air and on the stones. It's started to rain again, a cold, hard drizzle that threatens to turn into something more.

You don't fully relax until your feel touch the ground, and even then you're still tense until Jake joins you.

"Goodness, my hands feel like ice," Jake exclaims, rubbing the offending appendages together clumsily.

Your own hands are completely numb except for small pinpricks of pain, and you curl them into loose fists, rubbing the tips against your (now slippery) leather gloves. You spare a moment to wish they weren't fingerless. Considering the gloves reminds you of your sword, and you look up with a concern.

"Oh shit."

Jake looks over at you, head tilted curiously.

Before the climb you had left your katana by the base of the wall, and Jake had left his daggers. You had left the weapons leaning against a small pile of smooth rocks just off to the right. They are no longer there.

Jake follows your gaze and puts his hands on his hips thoughtfully. "Now that _is_ odd. One of the others probably saw them laying here and brought them back to the camp, right?"

The sound of voices cuts through the mist-drenched trees and you're pushing Jake back, into the shadows by the the base of the rock pile.

"Stay here," you whisper. "I'm going to check it out. Be right back." You wait for his reluctant nod of agreement before slinking into the forest, skirting around the voices to come up from the side. Wouldn't want to lead them back to Jake, if they are a threat.

You creep closer to the voices, definitely unfamiliar, and manage to ignore the wet brush of the bushes. The mist makes it hard to see, but you can vaguely make out three burly figures, slowly making their way through the forest accompanied by strange clanking noises.

You identify the noise as armour when the shapes resolve themselves into samurai. You reach for your shuriken, arming yourself with a silent curse. What are samurai doing this deep past the camp?

You start to slip back into the plant cover, running the beginnings of a plan through your mind. Grab Jake, get back to camp as fast a possible. Warn everyone, get some swords-

A bird nearby takes into the air with a sharp cry, and you freeze as the three samurai whirl around to scan the foliage. For a moment they don't see you, but then one draws his sword and yells "ninja".

You're on your feet, sprinting back through the bushes and trees. If you can loose them, loop back behind-

Something whizzes by your ear and you look to the side to see your katana embed itself in a nearby tree. You spit a sharp curse, whipping around to judge the distance between you and the samurai. There's no way you're leaving it here _now_.

The samurai close in and you throw your shuriken, landing one lucky shot on the helmetless man while the others sink into armour. He goes down, and his comrades falter. You lunge for the katana, wrapping your fingers around the handle and wrenching at the blade. It's wedged deeply in the wood, and you barely manage to budge it before the other two samurai are on you.

You kick out, catching the first one on the chest and knocking him back a few steps. The second samurai lashes out with his sword, but you use your stuck katana to pull yourself into the air, narrowly dodging the blow and delivering a swift kick to the samurai's wrist. The first samurai's on you again, and you have to push away form the tree to avoid getting sliced in half. The second samurai's back, and with two blades they manage to land shallow scratches along your upper right arm and left thigh.

You try to work your way back to the tree with your sword, but the hulking samurai are doing their best to keep between it and you. You're just beginning to get worried when a noise from the other side of the samurai catches one's attention.

You flash out a hand, palm flat, and knock the helmet off his head. By the time a sword comes down, you've leaped back far enough to avoid anything more than a scratch down your chest that only cuts your tunic. You glance to the side, surprised to see the other samurai defending himself against Jake's shuriken.

You grimace, knowing he won't last long with his limited supply. You dodge your opponent's next strike, punching his wrist hard enough to knock his katana loose- which hurts like hell, considering his protective, armoured gloves. You contemplate lunging for the katana, but elect to give it a swift kick, sending it into the brush and sprinting back to the tree to retrieve to your own weapon.

To your delight the samurai takes the bait, diving into the bushes to recover his weapon. You tug on the hilt of the katana and feel it shift slightly. One more firm pull and it wrenches free, accompanied by a shower of splinters.

You dive back into the fray, easily taking care of your samurai before turning to help Jake. It doesn't take long for you to finish him off, eyeing your bloodied blade with distaste before scavenging your sheath from one of the samurai's corpses. You also find Jake's knives, handing them to him unceremoniously.

He makes a face as he arms himself, looking at the bodies of the samurai with a distant kind of sadness. "It's a gruesome business, isn't it? Killing?"

You shrug. "Better than being killed. And besides, samurai honour codes are worse." You motion vaguely to the slumped bodies. "If you don't do _this_ , they're bound to commit suicide, anyways."

"Oh," Jake says softly.

"Hey, come on, we need to get back to camp and report this."

As you plunge back into the trees Jake slowly shakes off his melancholy, despite the fact that you're both nearly soaked to the bone by the time you're close enough to see the outline of Kankri's building, high on the path.

When you break out of the forest, it takes you a fraction of a second to realize that the camp is too quiet, too _empty_. You hold up an arm to stop Jake, motioning for him to follow you back behind the tree line. You slowly make your way down towards the heart of the camp, trying to keep as quiet as possible.

You stop by Cronus's building, freezing when you catch the faint scent of smoke. You quickly realize that it's wafting from the house, growing stronger by the second. A sudden crash inside is accompanied by a sharp curse, and you lift your sword as the door flies open, spewing a cloud of thick smoke along with it. Two figures break away from the smoke, running into the forest, and you lower your sword when you identify Kankri and Cronus.

Before you can open your mouth, Cronus grabs both you and Jake by the arm, dragging you deeper into trees before shoving you into a crouch among a thick cluster of bushes while Kankri whispers an apology on his behalf.

"What the devil going on?"

Cronus scans the forest before sitting back on his heels, keeping his voice low. "We've been ambushed by samurai. Somehow they went an' found our location. We're burnin' all the maps, contacts, mission information- everythin'. Then we're gettin' the hell outta here. I'd advise you to do the same."

"And go where?"

Cronus turns to snap at you, but Kankri opens his mouth first. "It doesn't matter, as long as you can get away from here. Everyone else has, hopefully, managed to escape. They will likely try to find somewhere to stay in the neighbouring villages, and once we're in a safe location I will endeavour to contact everyone."

You can tell he's just getting started, but a volley of shouting has you all holding your breath. You glance at Jake, and then back to Kankri.

"We should go, before they all group up by the bridge."

Cronus grimaces. "You two go on ahead. There's still documents up at Kankri's, so we'll be a little longer. Now get outta here." He starts to cautiously slips through the undergrowth and Kankri follows him, glancing worriedly back over his shoulder at you and Jake.

You nudge Jake in the ribs and motion in the other direction, aiming to weave down towards the bridge. Regrettably, the small clearing just before the bridge might pose a bit of a problem. You'll have to run it, and the bridge will probably be slippery. Hopefully it will be as much of a problem for the enemy as for you.

To your dismay, the samurai seem to have set up a guard, milling around the far side of the clearing. You sigh and turn to Jake.

"We're going to have to run through. When I say go, run as fast as you can to the bridge. It'll be slippery, so use the railing to help you along. With any luck, they'll have trouble with it too. Ideally we can stay together, but if not, then try to lose them in the forest. Head north, to the closest village- Prospit- and we'll meet up there. Are you ready?"

Jake nods, clenching a fist tightly.

"Now," you hiss, bursting from the forest, Jake on your right. You're halfway across the clearing when the samurai get their bearings and give chase, yelling loudly. You itch to run faster, but you're not going to leave Jake behind.

Your feet hit the bridge, skidding slightly on the slick wood, and you grab the rail to steady yourself, not breaking stride. You hear shouts behind you as the samurai reach the bridge, and one harsh thump that shakes the wood.

The thick mist over the bridge dulls the sound around you as you gasp for breath, making it seem like the only things in the world are your pounding heart, the beating of your feet on the bridge, and Jake's back in front of you. He nearly slips at one point, catching himself at the last minute before continuing on.

You know the pace must be hard on him; despite being fit from all his 'adventuring', he hasn't been trained like you have. He trips when you reach grass again, and you know that he can't keep this up.

You swallow. "I'll try to lead them off to the right, then loop back to meet you near Prospit once I loose them."

"What are you saying, mate?" Jake gasps.

You grit your teeth as he stumbles again and yells sound from behind you. "There's no time to argue. I'll catch up with you in Prospit." You can see that there's still a spark of defiance in his eyes, so you say the only thing that will make him agree. "We need to lose them and you're slowing me down."

You try to ignore the crushing guilt that comes with Jake's hurt expression, pointing him brusquely towards the village and diving back into the bushes, trying to be as loud as you can.

You manage to catch the attention of your pursuers, and after a few seconds you can tell they're on your trail, crashing violently through the bushes. Your muscles hurt and your lungs burn and you try to focus on breathing, on moving forwards, on how far away your perusers are. You don't think about the others, scattered across the map or running from their own enemies; you don't think about Kanrki and Cronus, still in the camp; you don't think about how your home is gone, ransacked by the enemy; you don't think about how Jake is running through the forest, alone and with nothing more than a couple of daggers and your hasty directions.

The sky opens up and the cold rain transforms into a storm. You run through thorns and bushes, jump over roots and splash through shallow streams. You'd worry about hypothermia if you weren't solely focused on running. You take twists and turns, obscure paths and steep slopes, anything to buy you enough time to lose them. Finally, _finally_ , the voices fade. You loop back, not taking the same path, but one that should lead you around to the road to Prospit.

You keep moving until your body gives out and you crash to the ground, laying in the mud for a good minute before you even realize you've fallen. You're shaking, badly, and now you start to worry about hypothermia. The sky flashes and a thunderous boom rolls through the air, and you force yourself to your feet. Even though you can't move any faster than a walk, you keep going. You only stop to rest for a few second, only when you _can't_ keep moving forwards.

Your mind feels sluggish, and you practically stumble into the samurai that nearly cleaves your head clean off. You react slowly, barely able to lift your sword, much less effectively block your opponent's solid blows. Your don't know how your cold fingers can keep a hold on your katana, but you manage to deflect most of his strikes until he knocks you back. You roughly hit the ground, feeling the mud soak into your drenched clothing. The samurai lifts his sword and it catches a strike of lightening, flashing menacingly.

Before he can bring it down, a sharp cry echoes through the forest and he goes stiff. He's dead by the time he falls on you, blood rushing from the knife wound in the back of his head. You lay there, the breath being squished out of you, until the man's weight slowly rolls off of you, replaced with Jake leaning over you.

"Dirk? _Dirk_? Are you alright?"

You let him pull you to your feet, swaying slightly as his gaze flickers back to the dead samurai. His eyes widen and he swallows, looking away quickly.

"We need to keep moving," you say, despite the protests of your body. Your limbs feel weak and the icy rain and wind has planted a chill that spreads to your bones.

Jake nods, looking around before starting off to the left. You follow him numbly, trying not to fall over, and eventually you realize that you're close to the village. It's not long before you can see it, illuminated by silver flashes accompanied by thunder.

You stagger into the village, leaning heavily on Jake, but manage to pick yourself up long enough to buy a hotel room, some clothing, some towels, and some medical supplies. You have some wicked scratches from the thorns, and you doubt Jake is unscathed.

A sigh shakes itself loose from your chest as you reach your room. You dully realize that you're dripping water onto the floor, letting the bundle in your arms fall to the ground as you snag a towel and start peeling off your mud-soaked clothes. You're shaking slightly, hands trembling with the effort it takes to dry off and dress in a simple, loose orange tunic and black pants. You deftly check your injuries, but your arm and leg wound are already scabbed over and the scratches from the thorns aren't worth bandaging.

You toss your filthy clothes into the corner along with your katana, deciding to worry about it tomorrow. Your thoughts seem to be drifting, and it's not until you look at Jake that you pause. He's still standing in his wet and muddied ninja garb, and now, in the soft lamplight, you can see that it's torn along the front. A few jagged, red-stained lines.

Suddenly it seems as if everything snaps back into focus. You take a hesitant step towards him, and he flinches before looking up at you with tormented eyes.

"Jake?"

"I-I killed him, Dirk. That man. I _killed_ him." Jake's voice wavers, and suddenly tears are running down his face.

You numbly walk over to him, reaching over to get a better look at the tears in his shirt. "Jake- you're hurt."

He sniffles, still crying, one hand lightly pushing your away. "It's my fault. I wasn't paying attention. I wasn't looking, like you always tell me to, and-" He sobs and you grab the other, clean towel, starting to dry him off. After a moment he takes the towel from your hands, peeling off his clothes and changing into the fresh black pants. You stop him before he can don the tunic.

"Fuck, that looks bad."

The three cuts, running from his right ribs to his left hip, are filthy and bleeding. You grab a cloth, soaking it and forcing Jake to sit on the edge of the bed while you clean the wounds. He sucks in his breath, wincing when you touch him, but doesn't speak.

To your relief the wounds aren't deep. Once you've cleaned them as much as you can, you grab the bandages and perch on the bed behind him, starting to bind the wound.

"Dirk, it's alright, I can do it myself."

You smack Jake's hands away, winding the roll of bandages around his middle. "Don't be stupid, I've got it." Jake's shoulders shift forwards, hunching, and you pause. "What's wrong?"

"I-" he sniffles again, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a burden, I just- sometimes I just don't think, and- and I forget to pay attention to everything-"

"Jake, shh, it's okay. You're not a burden, I- I didn't mean that. About you slowing me down." He hiccups and you sigh, returning to bandaging him. You soften your voice. "How did it happen?"

"I was trying to get to the village, like you told me to, but it started raining and I got a bit turned around. I was focused on trying to get back- I didn't even notice the man until he took a swing at me."

One of Jake's hands absently flutters over his stomach. His voice sounds a little stronger and he doesn't seem to be crying anymore. "After that, I had my daggers out and managed to evade him, but the brute landed another slice just below the first one." He laughs wryly. "I suppose I need to guard myself better. And- the third one. I managed to lose him, and I was trying to find the path again when he found me. I panicked, and I didn't look around, and I tripped over a tree root. Nearly got skewered that time. I managed to hide until- well, that's when you came."

You lapse into silence, and in the quiet your mind works. You image Jake running through the forest, alone and in the dark, with a samurai on his tail. The samurai finding him, again and again, Jake tripping and falling, the samurai running him through with a blade that reflects the moonlight-

You suddenly can't breathe as you picture Jake's prone, bloodied form, and it hits you all at once. You'd miss him like a hole in the heart. You'd miss his smile, and those brilliant green eyes, and the way he gets excited about nearly everything. You'd miss the way his eyes glow when he talks about adventuring and the way he stands when he's ready for a challenge. You'd miss the way his laugh sounds and the way his hair looks when it's mussed and the way he sometimes stands too close without realizing, and most of all you'd miss the way he makes your heart speed up and your stomach flutter and your breath catch.

The world is hazy, and you dully realize that you're trembling. Jake's warm hands carefully brush yours and you can hear the worry in his voice as he starts to turn around.

"Dirk, mate, are you alrig-" He stops, mouth open, as he takes in the tears streaming silently down your face.

Your hands tighten on the loose end of the bandage as you meticulously tie it off, not really seeing the movement.

"Dirk?"

He's looking at you with those wide, worried eyes, and one of his hands hovers uncertainly between you, and suddenly you can't take it anymore. You're tired, you're cold, you're mentally exhausted, and you're hopelessly in love with him. So you do the only thing you can: you kiss him.

You kiss him like you're dying, like you're drowning and he's air. You kiss him like you need him, because you _do_ , and your heart stops when his hands brace against your chest. It starts again when he begins to kiss you back.

His mouth is soft, warm, careful, and you slow your desperate movements to match his. You pull back just enough to readjust, to turn his body to face yours and to brush your lips against his and deepen the kiss. His lips tremble against yours but his hands fist in your tunic, pulling you close. You let your arms snake around his waist, holding him gently even though your body aches to crush him against you.

There are tears on both of your faces but neither of you seem to care. Jake's hands move from your tunic to your neck, one of them winding through your hair as his mouth opens to gasp for breath.

You slide your lips along his, kissing him chastely before kissing a line from his mouth to his jaw. He tilts his head back and you kiss along his neck, down to his shoulder, slow and burning. You can't get enough of him. You're afraid to stop, in case the spell shatters.

When Jake lets out a soft, pained gasp, you force yourself away, worried that you hurt him. He notices your wide-eyed stare and laughs breathily.

"I'm alright, mate, I just..." His hands leave your neck to rest protectively over his bandaged stomach. "I'm alright." His voice sounds unsteady and you reach out to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," you blurt out. "I'm so sorry. I should never have left you. I though they'd all come after me, I didn't think they'd split u-"

Jake cuts you off by crushing his mouth against yours, rough enough to catch you by surprise. His kiss is greedy and hard, and after a moment you pull back, your lips inches away as you look into his eyes.

"Jake?"

He shakes his head, and you gently run your hands over his hips. "Are you cold?"

He shakes his head but you pull away to grab the emerald green tunic.

"You don't have to lie, I know my hands are freezing."

A watery laugh is his only reply, and you help him into the tunic, kissing the tip of his nose before releasing him.

"...Dirk? Would- would you mind if I sleep with you tonight? It-it's cold," he says softly, and you feel your heart leap before you reach over to snuff the lamp.

The room floods with darkness and you make your way back to Jake, helping him under the covers before slipping in yourself. In the darkness, with the sound of rain and thunder as background noise, he tells you how he can't get the dead man's face out of his mind. You hold him, whispering comforts and kissing his face until he falls asleep. As soon as his breathing deepens, you rest your forehead against his. His peaceful face is the last thing you see before sleep takes you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this one took so long! (What with the upd8, I hope none of you mind too much). Just a little heads up: I was thinking of doing the next chapter from Roxy's POV, so we'll see how that goes. Enjoy!

You’re really beginning to regret bringing Karkat along. You hadn’t liked the idea to begin with, and after he spent the entire two hour walk to the next village shouting at you, you started considering taking the asshole home. Once you reached the village, a small, cozy place near the mouth of the mountain pass, you were about ready to stab him and leave his corpse on the side of the road. When you bought food, he complained that it tasted like shit. When you managed to get some heavy cloaks- not much, but better than freezing to death in the snow- he whined about how they were uncomfortable and his dragged on the ground. You may or may not have made some rude comments about his height that pissed him off more.

And of course, he managed to get John on his side, the bastard. John told you to leave him alone, that he’s not used to this kind of stuff. You’ve come to the conclusion that you really, really hate Karkat. So you handle it in the only way you can: subtly harassing him while pretending not to be affected by his screamed insults.

You have to admit, it is kind of funny when he gets mad. His face gets all red and he tries to be intimidating, despite the fact that the top of his head barely reaches your chin. You’ve discovered that he tries to compensate for the difference by either jumping on top of something or trying to tackle you to the ground. So far he’s been more successful with the former, seeing as you flashstep out of the way and he tends to trip over his own feet.

But despite the fact that you really wish he hadn’t come, and despite how you hate the way he always gets John on _his_ side, you find yourself glancing behind you every so often to make sure he hasn’t fallen behind too much. He returns your looks with glares, baring his teeth and tugging his cloak more tightly around him.

“You okay back there, Karkitty?” You ask, sure to make your tone faintly mocking. You wouldn’t want him to think you were actually concerned, after all.

“Shut the fuck up, you repulsive bulge muncher.”

You roll your eyes, picking your way carefully up the frosted, rocky slope. “If you don’t hurry up, you’ll get left behind.”

“I said shut _up_. I’m cold, and I’ll take as long as I fucking _want_.”

“Really? I though your burning self-hatred and all-consuming rage would act as a heat source.”

“Dave, don’t bully him,” John says, dropping back slightly to give you a pouty, chastising look. “Hey Karkat, if you want us to slow down, we can.”

Karkat replies with something predictably rude.

“He just wants an excuse to scream curse words. I think he likes the sound of their echo.”

John laughs, teeth showing, and bumps you with his elbow before hurrying enthusiastically after Gamzee. Your stomach feels weirdly warm in that way that you’re beginning to associate with John’s smiles.

You weren’t intentionally watching him, but you notice when he glances up at the sky and a frown steals across his face. You make your way over to him and Gamzee, raising an eyebrow.

“It looks like it might snow,” John explains.

You look up, but don’t see anything different about the cold gray sky. “You think? We should try to find some shelter.”

“Yeah.” John’s brows furrow for a moment as he thinks, and then his face lights up. “Oh! There’s actually something near here. One time Jake and I were going over maps and we found one for the mountains. There should be some abandoned shacks somewhere in here, and if we can find it, there’s a really old ninja stronghold.”

“Can you find them?” you ask, trying to ignore the tinge of jealously that Jake’s name brought up.

“Yeah! They’re really close. We should come across a river pretty soon, and the path keeps going straight, but if we cross the river we should find it.”

You start off again, with John in the lead this time. A freezing wind picks up, carrying snow with it, and you try to move faster, not wanting to get caught in a storm. The snow gets heavier quickly; it stings your eyes and exposed skin as it blusters around, making it hard to see without squinting.

You realize that you haven’t heard from Karkat in a while and glance back to see him following after you with gritted teeth and hunched shoulders. _At least the storm’s good for something_.

You hear John shout that he can see the river and then the storm starts, wind growing to a deafening howl. You can barely see two feet in front of you, and the snow is starting to gather on the ground. You can’t stop your teeth from chattering as an icy cold sets into your bones. You shiver, trying to warm your frozen hands, and start to worry about hypothermia.

By the time you reach the riverbank, you’re wading through two feet of snow and have to stand right in front of the others to see them.

“There’s an old bridge just up here,” John shouts over the wind, pointing into the wall of whiteness. “It’s covered in snow, so it might be slippery. The fortress should be right on the other side.”

John and Gamzee disappear into the whirling wall of snow, and you follow close behind. The bridge is shoddily made and weathered, the wooden boards splintered where they show through the snow. You pray that it holds and doesn’t send you toppling into the freezing river that rushes past below.

When you finally reach the other side, you can barely see the silhouettes of John and Gamzee as they force their way through the wall of snow. A gust of wind nearly blows you off your feet and you realize grimly that the storm is barely even starting.

You glance behind you, stopping when you realize that Karkat isn’t there. You look around, wondering if he’s somehow beside you, before gritting your teeth and following your footprints back towards the bridge. Your heartbeat speeds up with the possibility of getting lost in the storm and, as much as you hate to admit it, the worry that Karkat might be in trouble. You almost miss him, laying on the ground and already covered in a thin layer of snow. You drop to your knees beside him, reaching out with numb hands.

“ _Karkat_!” You have to scream to make your voice heard over the howling wind. You’re forced to grab his shoulders and shake him roughly to get him to turn a bleary gaze on you. For a moment you worry that something’s seriously wrong, but then a shiver runs through him and he struggles to his feet, swatting one hand at you clumsily.

“ _Sorry_. I fell. Fucking snow,” he grumbles, words almost lost in the shrieking wind. “I’m fine,” he insists, trying to pull away from you.

“Bullshit. You’re nowhere _near_ fine,” you say as you take in the dull look in his eyes. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

A choked noise escape Karkat’s throat as his legs buckle under him, almost sending him back to the ground. The only thing that stops him from face planting in the frozen drifts is your tight grip on his arms.

You swear, moving to wind one arm around his waist as you pull him against your side, wrapping your cloak around him as you force your way back thought the snow. From this close, you can feel him violently shivering. He’s as cold as ice, and when you glance down you see that ice crusts his eyelashes.

You don’t know how you manage to make it to the fortress, but after what feels like hours of stumbling aimlessly though the snow after rapidly vanishing footprints, the dark castle looms thought the whiteness. It takes everything you have to get to the door that opens into a massive stone room. John runs up to you, relief all over his face as snow starts piling up in the foyer.

“Dave, there you are! I was so worried, I thought we lost you!”

“Karkat’s not doing well,” you force out, barely noticing the sudden quiet as Gamzee shuts the heavy door behind you, blocking out the raging wind.

John’s face takes on concern again, but all you can really think about is how violently Karkat’s shaking.

“There’s a room off to the right that’s got some blankets and stuff in it. If you can get him in there, I’ll make a fire. Gamzee, can you look for water?”

You make your way to the room, feeling returning to your fingers in sharp daggers of pain. The room is huge, with bare stone walls and an enormous fireplace. The entire floor is covered in a thick fur carpet, with more fur blankets piled by the hearth. You manage to reach the blankets before sinking to the ground, carefully removing your cloak from Karkat’s stiff fingers as John starts to build a fire. You pull off the cloak, dropping the sodden and ice-crusted garment to the ground before reaching over to help Karkat. He doesn’t move, limply letting you pull off his cloak before you drape a thick furred blanket around him.

He snaps out of his stupor long enough to growl that he’s cold and press himself against you for warmth. You sigh, allowing him to lean his head against your chest as he shudders.

John, finally managing to create something that is practically a full-fledged bonfire, crawls over and snuggles up against you with a second blanket. It’s almost enough to make you forgive Karkat for forcing you to freeze your ass off.

When Gamzee finally comes back with a big jug of water, he pours a glass for Karkat before settling down on the shivering boy’s other side.

You watch the fire twist and flicker, slowly warming your face and filling the air with the rich scent of burning wood. When the firelight starts to make your eyes heavy, you let your head rest against an already-sleeping John’s. The furs are heavy and they tickle the side of your face, but their warmth quickly draws you to sleep.

-

You wake slowly, the heat and comfort threatening to draw you back to sleep before someone shifts, their elbow prodding you uncomfortably in the side. You open your eyes, squirming away from the offending joint, and carefully start to extricate yourself from the pile of limbs. Once you gently shift John off of you, you have to pry Karkat’s arms from around your waist before stepping over Gamzee’s arm and liberating yourself from the tangle of bodies.

The room is hot, lit with the soft orange glow of dying embers. You’re distracted by the way it flickers over John’s face, casting deep shadows over his eyes before he rolls onto his side. Despite the temptation that John’s sleeping face provides, the heat eventually becomes too much for you and you slip out of the room and into the chilly stone hallway.

For a moment you’re lost, unsure where to go, but then a cold current of air curls down from the left. Curious, you follow it down hallways and up a tall staircase, wishing that you’d brought along a blanket when the cold breeze turns to an icy wind that makes your breath cloud in front of your face. You find the source of the wind when you reach a room at the top of staircase, the door ajar. A mound of snow fills the corridor, blowing through the open door and lifting into the air before settling again.

You shiver as you step into the frozen hallway, glad that the fire dried your boots. You trudge through the drifts of snow, having to squeeze yourself through the door when it doesn’t budge. As soon as you slip through, you can see why. A gust of snow hits you square in the face and you blink against the sting. Half of the roof is collapsed, only two of the other walls sheltering the room. The entire thing is filled with snow, tossed around by a light, icy wind. Among the many drifts are piles, treacherous and frozen solid- one of them directly behind the door.

You shiver, curling your hands into fists to preserve their warmth. Carefully, you make your way towards the missing wall, one hand braced against the stones in case of a strong gust of wind of patch of hidden ice. You stay a few feet back from the edge, looking out over the valley.

The view is almost worth freezing your ass of for. The white, snow-filled valley stretches far off to the right before it bends around the corner of a mountain, disappearing. The sun reflects off of it brightly despite the thin cloud cover, and you can only take so much before your eyes start to hurt.

Blinking away the afterimage, you turn and trudge back into the fortress, pushing through the ice-blocked door and making your way back down the stairs. It’s almost colder in the halls than it is outside, and you’re shivering by the time you return to the room.

“Dave, there you are!” John waves you over with a grin and you drop down beside him. “Where were you?”

“Upstairs. I was just looking around a bit.” Before you can elaborate, Karkat interrupts.

“I’m starving.”

“Oh. Well, yesterday- or is it still today?- Gamzee and I looked around a bit, but we couldn’t find much to eat. I think our best bet is to keep moving and find someplace to stay after we get further into the mountains. What do you think?” he asks, turning his wide blue eyes on you.

“Sounds good. I mean, other than not freezing to death in the middle of nowhere, there’s no reason for us to stay here.”

John pushes you lightly on the shoulder. “We’re not going to freeze to death. There’s a few more places father down where we can stay, so we’ll be fine. And some of them might even have food.”

“Well then let’s _go_ , dumbass,” Karkat growls, although not as venomously as usual. It’s almost as if he doesn’t really mean it. Almost.

The four of you busy yourselves with one last search of the building, finding heavy parkas and some supplies, but still no food. You swap the thin cloaks for the parkas, pulling up the fur-lined hoods and donning your packs and weapons before leaving the empty fortress behind.

The air outside is cold but clear. The occasional gust of wind tosses some snow into the air, but otherwise the weather is perfect. For the mountains, anyways. The snow is deep, and you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere if you hadn’t robbed the fortress of its snowshoe reserve.

You feel ridiculous hobbling along with oddly splayed steps, but you don’t feel so bad about yourself when you see Karkat’s efforts. He falls three times before you roll your eyes and do your best to teach him how to walk. He grumbles, but doesn’t say anything more. He doesn’t fall again, either.

You shove your hands in your pockets to protect them from the stinging cold. The valley extends before you, pristine and distant, and you brace yourself for very long, cold trek.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh so first of all I am sO SORRY. I never meant to abandon this for half a year, but stuff came up and I was having a bit of a rough time. But! I'm back now, and I'm going to try my best to have the next update be sooner than six months away, although I have graduation coming up, so sadly no promises :(  
> Again, I'm so sorry for the sudden disappearance, and the shorter chapter, but I wanted to get this up ASAP! (And this one's Roxy's perspective, as promised.)  
> Happy reading :)

Technically you should already be back at camp but, to be fair, your feet were sore. How were you supposed to resist a short rest at the next village? Everyone else was tired too. At least, that's the logic you use to fend off the guilt of making everyone stay at the village for a day longer than necessary.

It's a nice village, and busy with preparations for the upcoming sun festival. Everyone is out in the streets, and you have to duck under arms and hop over small crates in the road as you head back to Jane's house.

Jane is one of your bestest friends ever, and you don't care if that's not a word! Your friendship transcends the confines of language!

You met her right around the time you met Dirk. Becoming friends with Jane was what actually led you to meeting Dirk. You had been running an errand in exchange for staying at Jane's house when you ran into the fight in the woods and nearly got your head chopped clean off. Lucky for you Dirk can be a proper gentleman when he feels like it and he decided to let you live. You had kind of panicked and bashed him over the head as soon as his back was turned. But that was totally his fault for turning his back on the enemy. You'd felt bad about a second after he passed out, and Jane hadn't been very happy when you hauled him back to her place.

You like to think that you all look back on the fiasco with fond memories. Okay, not really, but you have to appreciate the fact that once in your life you managed to beat Dirk.

But anyway, when you stopped for a rest at the village and Rose decided it was too late to keep going, you suggested that you track down Jane. And her being here had nothing to with you stopping here in the first place, that's for sure. At least, that's what you told Rose when she said is was "awfully convenient". You don't think she completely believed you, because she kept giving you those looks that she used to give your mom's 'medicinal drinks' before you found out that they were, in fact, straight up vodka.

Jane had said that she would let you all stay at her place, but in exchange you would have to run a few errands and make a couple deliveries. You didn't mind; it would be just like old times. Besides, you've never minded helping out a friend!

You swing the bag of thread back and forth (Jane had a torn kimono, and Kanaya said that she would repair it as a thank-you), dodging people and decorations alike. Your carefree attitude is put on hold, however, when you hear the echo of a noise from down one of the darkened side streets. You pause at the entrance to the alleyway, looking around, but no one else seems to have noticed anything unusual. You're about to keep moving when you hear a soft, muffle cry from farther down.

You quickly duck down the side street, rounding a couple of corners before halting behind the shadowy backs of three large boys, looming threateningly over someone on the ground.

"Hey! What's going on here?"

The boys jump and whirl around to face you, relaxing when they take you in. You prop a hand on your hip and raise an eyebrow, wondering if you should take out the dagger hidden inside your kimono.

"Get out of here," the one that appears to be the leader growls. "Unless you want us to take care of you, too."

You lean to the side, trying to see around the boys. You catch a glimpse of the figure, crouched on the ground and hooded, desperately trying to gather up freshly cut flowers that now litter the ground. You pout sympathetically. You don't know what's going on, but anyone handling flowers can't be that bad, so you think it's safe for you to take care of these bullies.

"You better scram before we change our minds," one of the other boys says.

You set your jaw, raising your head defiantly. "Actually, I think _you're_ the ones that should leave."

The leader makes a face. "If you want to play tough, then I guess we'll just have to teach you a lesson."

You carefully place the bag of thread on the ground, stepping away from it so it doesn't get trampled by the two boys that are now running towards you. The first one's swing is wide, and he completely misses you as you duck and bring up a foot to slam into his stomach. He doubles over and you bring back an elbow to meet the face of the boy behind you.

You hear and crunch and a scream, and you grab the back of the first boy's shirt, using his unbalanced weight to fling him sideways into the wall. The breath wheezes out of him, and he takes one look at you before turning tail and fleeing down the street. The second boy, now sporting a broken nose, follows after him, stumbling.

You give the leader a hard glare, starting towards him, but he seems to realize he can't win because he turns and sprints after the others, swearing. You watch until you're sure they're long gone before crouching down beside the stranger and reaching to help gather the last of the flowers, holding them out with a smile.

"Here you go. Are you alright?"

The stranger's hood covers their face, but you can tell by the soft, musical voice that it's a girl. "I-I'm fine. Thank you. Are... _you_ alright? That was impressive."

You grin at your new friend as she carefully takes the flowers from you, tucking them back into a basket that you hadn't noticed before.

"You think so?"

The stranger's head bobs up and down in a nod.

You hold out your hand. "I'm Roxy."

The stranger hesitantly reaches out to shake your hand, and you swear you can hear a small smile in her voice.

"Callie."

You keep a hold of Callie's hand, using it to pull her to her feet.

"Well, Callie, since you are a fair maiden and I am a gentlewoman, I have to walk you home."

"Oh! Um, that's not necessary. You don't have to."

You shake your head. "Yeah, I do. I don't want to lose my gentlewoman status, and besides, I don't want you to get mugged."

"Oh. Alright then, I suppose if it's no trouble..."

You crack a smile, linking your arm through your Callie's. "Nope. No trouble at all."

The route that Callie leads you through is very winding and dark, and when it finally opens up onto a large, main street, you begin to suspect that Callie's trying to keep hidden. That, coupled with how low her hood is pulled and the way she keeps turning her face away when you glance at her. When she tells you that you can leave her here and she can walk the rest of the way herself, you blow out your cheeks in frustration.

Before you can argue, Callie promises you that she lives really, really close, and she sounds uncomfortable so you stop pressuring her once you're sure that she isn't going to get mugged again

"You're gonna keep out of the sketchy alleys on your way home, _riiight_?"

She sounds a bit flustered when she replies, "Yes. I really do live just down the street a bit."

"Uh huh. Now, I don't wanna sound like I'm telling you how to live your life, but I think that generally wandering around alone at night is pretty suspicious. And kinda dumb."

"I suppose so. Although, I would like to point out that you are also wandering about at night."

You open your mouth to argue, but close it after a second. "Huh. You're right. Well, I guess we're both guiltily of being a little bit dumb."

Callie giggles and you grin.

"Be careful walking home, Roxy," she says after a second.

"Psh, I don't need to be. Everyone else's gotta be careful of _me_."

"I don't doubt it," Callie replies, sounding like she's smiling. She suddenly reaches down and pulls a flower from her basket, holding it out to you. "I'm sorry, the petals are a bit crushed. I don't have anything else. Thank you for helping me."

You take the flower, bowing exaggeratedly. "I shall cherish this crumply-petaled flower forever."

Callie seems like she's about to say something else, but then she quickly thanks you one last time before turning and hurrying away. You watch her until she disappears into the shadows. You contemplate following her, just to make sure she makes it home safely, but you decide that it would be an invasion of her privacy. And a lil' creepy.

Still, you hang around a while longer, listening for any signs of disturbance, before continuing of your way back to Jane's, swinging the back of thread back and forth. It swishes loudly in the still night. Most people have gone in to bed, and the streets are eerily silent, lined with the shadowy shapes of unlit festival lights and decorations. You wish you could see the festival, but you bet that Rose and Jade are eager to get home. Besides, you don't even know when the festival _is_.

You sigh, bringing the flower to your nose to sniff it. You're surprised to recognize the scent of roses, and you lightly drag the petals across your cheek. Even crushed, they're still silky soft.

When Jane opens the door and ushered you into her warm house, she frets over how long you took. You tease her, calling her a worrywart before confessing that there was a _tiny_ altercation. But you handled it! You handled it great! You didn't even wreck the thread, so you think you deserve a few of Jane's ever-present cookies. She huffs as you grab a handful, but she doesn't really look upset. You shove a few cookies into your mouth and wink at her as you head to the bedroom, stooping halfway there and hurrying back to ask her to please put your flower in some water so it doesn't die.

You flash Jane a crumb-covered grin as she hands you a fluted vase, carrying it in to set beside you on the night table. You place the rose in the glass vase, using a fingertip to stroke the flower's delicate yellow petals, smiling softly to yourself.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, so, first order of business: updates. I've got graduation and exams looming, so I don't know when the next update will be. I doubt it will happen for at least another month, so hang tight till then. As an apology, this chapter is twice as long as usual :)

The heavy, drumming sound of rain wakes you and you don’t know what time it is. There's no light filtering in through the thin paper screen walls, but it could easily be from either the thick grey storm clouds or the night sky. You don’t hear any thunder, but the torrential downpour outside is bad enough to make you want to go back to sleep.

The rain serves another purpose as well; it makes the room cold as shit. You’re pretty sure that your nose is going to freeze off of your face. Your ears have long since died off. You shiver, the contemplation of the cold making its sharpness more acute. Your movement prompts a shifting beside you, and you stiffen in surprise and recollection as a pair of arms tighten around you waist.

Jake. Oh, god, _Jake_. It takes you a moment to grasp that last night did, in fact, happen. You feel your face warming at the memory of his lips on yours, his hands in your hair-

He tilts his head up to look at you, eyes barely open and face soft with sleep. You open your mouth to apologize for waking him, but he moves the few inches it takes to press a chaste kiss to your lips before snuggling back down against your chest. He’s wonderfully warm.

“Morning,” you say quietly, aware that this sleepy, rainy morning isn’t meant for anything but whispers and warmth.

“What time’s it?” Jake mumbles, breath tickling the space between your neck and shoulder.

“Dunno. Does it matter?”

“I guess not,” he murmurs back, and his voice already sounds like it’s drifting between sleep and wakefulness.

You rest your chin on the top of his mussed hair, breathing in his scent. It reminds you of forests and rich earth. It reminds you of home. _Home_.

“What is it, mate?” Jake asks, pushing back a little so he can see your face. You’ve never had to train your body to hide your emotions, and the fact that he can read your reactions so well is both endearing and disconcerting.

"Don’t worry about. Go back to sleep.”

He huffs, wriggling around to blow directly into your face, and you squint your eyes shut until he stops. “Well I can’t go back to sleep now, so you’d best tell me what’s bothering you.”

He sounds firm on that point, so you roll your eyes before reaching out to tuck him back against you. His hair tickles your chin and you sigh, closing your eyes. “What do we do now?” You don’t need to say anything more for him to understand, and you’re relieved. Picturing the ruined camp is hard enough.

Jake lays his cheek flat against you and you can feel his eyelashes flutter closed against your collarbone. “I don’t know, mate.” After a second he adds, “I can’t believe it. I can’t imagine that it’s gone, even though I saw…”

“I know. God, I know.” You grew up there, spent more of your life in that camp than anywhere else. It’s the only place that ever really felt like _home_. A place where you had your brother and friends and people to look after and to look after you. It always felt so constant, like nothing would ever be able to destroy it. Like it was a safe haven, and once you crossed that bridge no one would be able to touch you. It was a childish belief, really, but the attack on the camp felt _wrong_ , like there was no way that the enemy could just walk straight in and burn everything you’ve known to the ground in one day.

“Dirk?”

“Yeah?” You hope that Jake doesn’t pick up on the slightly rough note in your voice.

Jake slides a hand to your back, rubbing slow circles between your shoulder blades. “Where do we go now?”

“Go?” You mull it over for a while before stating pensively, “Nowhere.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“We could hang around here for a few days, figure things out.”

“Ah.”

You have a sneaking suspicion that he understands your need for some time to both accept the reality of the decimation of the camp as well as get over the emotional shock.

Jake keeps rubbing your back until you feel yourself relaxing, and by the time his movements slow and then stop, you’re feeling the pull of sleep once again. Jake’s slow, measured breathing prevents you from asking him anything else, and you let the dull pounding of the rain lull you into a light doze.

-

You can’t say that wading through the bounteous fuckton of white shit on the ground was any more pleasant that you had expected it to be. A hell of a lot more amusing, thanks to Karkat managing to sink up to his waist in snow and cursing loudly until you or John or Gamzee pull him free. It’s pretty damn hilarious watching Gamzee plod over to a spitting Karkat and just _lift_ him straight into the air while he snarls in indignation. But amusing is in no way the same thing as pleasant, and despite Karkat’s pathetic struggling, you’re still cold and hungry and miserable, and you can’t even complain about it because Karkat’s doing enough complaining for your whole party.

You got the hang of the snowshoes pretty quickly, but after hours of walking your legs are starting to burn. By now even Karkat has gotten used to them. Instead of flailing around and digging himself into a hole, he’s trundling along behind you. He hasn’t sworn in the last ten minutes, and you’re beginning to learn that his lack of grumbling means he’s getting tired. You feel slightly sorry for him; being a daimyo’s son, he probably never had to do this much strenuous physical activity.

He tugs on the back of your parka and you remember why you only feel _slightly_ sorry for him. After falling to the back of the group, Karkat decided that it would be a good idea to keep your attention by hanging onto a fistful of your parka. Well, to be fair, it wasn’t exactly a parka, more like a thick cloak with a furred hood and sleeves and hem, and Karkat is weirdly drawn to anything remotely cape-like.

But anyways, Karkat seemed to think that your lack of response to his ramblings meant that you weren’t paying attention to him- he wasn't wrong- and so he decided that the most obvious and helpful course of action would be to yank on it roughly when you were climbing a slope. Needless to say, that was probably not his most brilliant idea because he was standing right behind you and gravity is a thing that exists. You fell backwards, straight into him, and the only satisfying part of the whole ordeal was the noise that Karkat made when you knocked him into the snow.

That was when the yelling started, but you decided to combat this by leaning all your weight onto him and squashing him into the snow. You’re pretty sure that you got the furred hood of your parka-cloak in his mouth. That was also fairly satisfying. In fact, that was probably the most fun you had, but then John made you get off of Karkat, who seethed along behind you.

For some, inexplicable reason, when his griping faded away to exhausted panting, he caught the corner of your parka again and held onto it while you walked. You shot him a warning glare, but he didn’t try anything, and after a while you decided that it must be because he didn’t want to fall behind and get lost again. You can’t say that you blame him, since he nearly died the last time. And it’s almost kind of endearing- although you’d never admit it out loud.

He tugs on your parka again, this one a little more insistent, and you sigh.

“What?”

“Are we almost there?”

“Literally open your eyes. Does it _look_ like we’re anywhere near the end of the valley?”

“I can’t fucking _see_. It’s too fucking bright.”

“Eloquent.”

“Answer the question, jackass.”

“I did. I told you to open your eyes.”

He snarls at you and tries to kick some snow at you, but instead he trips and ends up hauling on your parka as he struggles for balance. You let out an undignified choking sound.

“Fuck, sorry.” He doesn’t sound very happy about apologizing. But then again, he doesn’t really sound very happy about anything.

“If you keep trying to kill me, you’re going to lose your cloak-holding privileges.” He gives you a very rude suggestion of what you can do with your cloak and you snicker. “Right. But yeah, I think we’re almost there. Like you said, it’s too damn bright to see anything. I think I’m already half blind. Oh, wow, how philosophical is this, blind leading the blind. In this case I’m the dude who’s soon to be literally blind, and you’re the dude who’s metaphorically blind because, no offence, but you-”

He cuts you off by shoving a handful of snow down the back of your cloak. You swear, jumping away and nearly tripping over your stupid snowshoes. God, that’s cold as _shit_ , and extremely uncomfortable. You swear again, this time turning to a very smug looking Karkat.

“You asshole.”

“Bite me.” He flips you off, turning away to follow after John and Gamzee, and you crouch down, teetering for balance, and dig your hands into the snow.

“Hey Karkat.”

He turns and you lob a snowball directly into his face. There’s a second of complete silence before the tips of his ears get very red. You take that as your cue to abscond the fuck out of there. He chases you down, tripping more than once, but damn if his determination doesn’t make up for it.

You manage to reach John and Gamzee before Karkat can catch up, though, and you flash him a victorious smirk. Of course, you should have known that Karkat wouldn’t respect the fact that you kicked his ass. He literally runs at you, and you barely manage to scramble out of the way before he trips and goes sprawling headlong into a snowdrift. You sidle up behind him, trying to keep your grin respectably small, basking in your complete thrashing of Karkat.

Naturally, you’re too busy watching Karkat’s attempts to struggle free of the snow to notice John sneaking up behind you. You only realize that you should watch your back a second before he shoves a handful of snow down it.

“Jesus _fuck_ , are you fucking _kidding_ me?” You hop around ridiculously, trying to shake loose the snow before it melts before you turn to glare at John. He grins back at you with unabashed amusement.

“You were wide open, Dave.”

“You have three seconds to run.”

“Pshh.” He rolls his eyes. “Like _that’s_ going to scare me.”

“Two.”

“Ooh, so intimidating, Dave.”

“One.”

He bolts a second before you lunge for him, but you still manage to catch him around the waist and tackle him to the ground, dodging the hand that moves to cuff you in the side of the head. You flick some snow into his face and he yelps, trying to dislodge you.

“Haha, oh my god, Dave, get your fat ass off of me!”

“No can do, Egbert. My ass is entirely unmovable.”

“ _Daave_!” He wriggles under you and frees one hand to shove at your shoulders. You let yourself go limp and his breath whooshes out in a _whoomph_ as you collapse on him.

“Get off,” he entreats you through a laugh, shoving at you until he manages to roll you halfway off of him.

You decide to spare him and move the rest of the way, sitting up beside him and shaking snow out of your hair. You glance around to find Gamzee waiting patiently a few steps away and Karkat watching you and John with a small frown.

“Whew,” John says, knocking the tips of his snowshoes together. “Hey look, we’re already at the end of the valley!”

You look up and see, to your surprise, that you have indeed reached the bend in the mountains that you could barely see from the top of the old fortress. What you couldn’t see earlier was that around the bend is a continuation of the valley, only with a sloping hill from one rocky side to the centre of the valley. The rest of the land is buried under snow, but John motions to the hillside, a dirty brown where the snow has sloughed off higher up.

“We can cross up there. That way we don’t need the snowshoes anymore, and we have high ground.”

“Won’t we need them later?”

“After this stretch of valley, we have to climb the mountain at the end. We can probably just leave them here.”

You all fiddle with your snowshoes until you manage to free yourselves. It feels strange walking with both feet directly under you, and Karkat cusses and stomps with irritation, sinking a little into the shallow snow. In the end, you don’t just leave your snowshoes sitting in the middle of the valley. When you start up the hill, you find a small cleft in the rock face that makes a small cavern. You cram the snowshoes inside before hiking up the hill. Karkat grabs a hold of your parka again, but he seems hesitant and holds it loosely. You’re honestly relieved; if he fell, you’d either get choked again or dragged down the mountain, and you’re perfectly happy without being subjected to either of those.

At the halfway point up the hill, there’s barely more than a thin dusting of snow on the frozen dirt. The sky is blindingly white, but with the rock underfoot instead of reflective snow, your eyes can finally relax enough to dull the headache that has been throbbing in the middle of your forehead.

As you walk, you knock loose pebbles that skitter and clatter down the hill before landing in the thick layer of snow below. Sometimes Karkat scuffs a bit of silt into the backs of your legs, but you’re graciously willing to believe that he’s not doing it on purpose. It’s probably hard enough for him to keep up with you, what with the length of his legs. You’re turning to harass him about it when something in the distance catches your eyes.

Karkat swears when he stumbles into you, but you absentmindedly steady him, squinting against the glaring light in an effort to make out the dark spots that are trudging through the valley. They’re not too far behind you, actually.

“John, I think you should see this,” you call, letting your voice carry only slightly. You don’t want to attract the attention of whoever’s behind you- although by now they’ve probably seen you. You spare a moment to regret making so much noise earlier before pointing out the unexpected company to John.

“Hmm. Well, there isn’t really anything to suggest that they’re dangerous…” He trails off, shielding his eyes with one hand and squinting. “Hey, Dave, doesn’t it look like they’re moving pretty fast? Oh, look at that one, the one waving their arms. Do you think that’s meant for u-”

You put two and two together at the crunch of silt from behind you, higher up the hillside. You don’t waste a second, pulling both John and Karkat to the ground and shouting out a warning for Gamzee. You hit the rough ground just as something swishes over your head, close enough that you can feel the breeze on the back of your neck.

Your heart pounding, you swear and roll onto your back, kicking out at your attacker’s legs. You make contact with his kneecaps and he falls forwards with a yell and a sickening snap. You knock him sideways before he can flatten you, scrambling to your feet and fumbling for your katana under the heavy cloak.

You twist to catch the blade of a knife on your half-drawn katana, aiming a kick at your new attacker’s side. He dodges it, but the brief respite allows you to free your sword. Unfortunately, he uses the time to pull out a nasty-looking metal pole, and you image that getting bludgeoned with it would hurt like a motherfucker.

The second attacker is far much more brutal than the first; you narrowly manage to evade getting impaled, and there are a few times that you come far too close to losing an eye or getting your head caved in. You retreat a few steps as his deflected knife scratches your cheek. You’re breathing hard, both from the fight and from a growing sense of fear. The scratch on your face is hardly deep, but the proximity to your eye floods you with adrenaline.

After another quick flurry of fighting ends with you pushing your enemy back a few steps, you spare the quickest cursory glance around the hillside. Gamzee seems to be having no trouble fighting a short, round attacker wielding what looks like a crook. John looks like he’s doing fine against a tall, angry one that’s stabbing at him with a long, thin stick. You think that John’s opponent might actually be the one that you knocked down, because he looks like he’s limping. Despite the choice of weapon though, he doesn’t look any less vicious that the one you’re facing down. Karkat seems to be struggling the most, forced into a pattern of retreat against an attacker that towers over him with a club. The mismatched weapons solidify your suspicion; mountain bandits.

You whip back around just in time to dodge a slash at your throat, and you fall into a retreat as well, edging backwards towards Karkat. It’s more difficult than you would think to make your way backwards down the slope of a hill while trying to avoid getting shanked but some one-eyed psychopath waving around a cast iron bar. You receive another nick on your chin before you reach Karkat.

Karkat’s opponent nearly takes the head off of yours with his next swing, and your bandit starts yelling at Karkat’s, giving you enough time to glance over at John again. It looks like both he and Gamzee are being pushed down the hill as well, and John looks dangerously close to the deep snow.

Your attention is snapped back to the enemy on hand when the metal bar moves in your peripheral vision. You duck under the swing, straightening up to catch the strike of a club on your katana. Your entire arm jolts with the impact as the club glances off of your sword at an angle. You grit your teeth, trying to ignore the pain, but you feel shaky and uncoordinated. The adrenaline in your system is not doing you any favours right now.

You realize quickly that although the bandit with the club is strong, he’s slower than the one you were fighting. Once you get use to his style, he’s actually pretty easy to evade and lunge at. You’re just starting to get your bearings and set yourself up for a solid, disabling strike when Karkat trips backwards and falls to the ground. His opponent brings down his knife as you throw yourself at him.

You hear Karkat give a little grunt of pain the second before you slam into the one-eyed asshole, knocking him roughly to the ground. Something hard strikes your ribs, maybe an elbow or that fucking metal bar, and you wince in pain. In a sudden movement, one-eye shoves you off of him, unbalancing you. You try to right yourself, but before you can struggle upright the side of your head explodes with agony. You drop to your hands and knees, one hand on your head, trying to blink back pain. You’re aware of a dull ringing in your ears, but the dizzying shifting of light makes it hard to concentrate on anything else. You close your eyes and fight back a wave of nausea.

Your self-preservation instinct fights with your desire to curl up and die and you force your eyes open despite the extreme discomfort. You feel weirdly unbalanced, and then you realize that it’s because you’re lying on the ground. You didn’t even notice falling over. You furrow your brow and look around, slowly getting to your knees.

 To your mystification, you haven’t been offed yet, especially considering how the enemy has doubled in numbers since the last time you looked. Doubled in numbers… and turned on themselves.

Fuck, your head hurts. You blink a few times, making sure that you’re not just seeing things. Now that you look closer, you can see that while four more strangers have joined the group, they don’t look like they’re too friendly with your attackers. In fact, they seem to be beating them back with relish.

You dazedly watch as the two groups clash with each other. Oddly enough, it looks like the newcomers are winning. Huh. You wonder if they’ll turn on you as soon as they finish off the others. You wonder where they even came from. And where everyone else _went_.

Turning your head hurts, and makes you feel sick, but you see Karkat nearby, and just past him are John and Gamzee. None of them seem to be the worse for wear. None of them even look that panicked.

When they notice you looking at them, John starts to stand, but Karkat surges to his feet first and comes over to you, dropping to the ground beside you. You starts to notice how bright everything is. Even squinting your eyes, it still hurts. And the noises from the fight are so damn _loud_. Even Karkat’s voice seems way louder than usual and you grimace when he speaks.

“John wants me to ask if you’re okay.”

Your mouth is dry and you swallow a couple of times. “What the fuck is going on?”

Karkat scowls at you. “What?”

“Where the fuck did those guys come from?” You would gesture, but it seems like too much effort.

“Are you serious? How the hell did you _miss_ tha- oh wait, yeah, you passed out for a few seconds.” Her makes it sound like you passing out is a huge inconvenience for him. “ _Those_ guys were the ones following us.”

 You take a second to blankly stare at him before vaguely recollecting the figures trailing along farther behind you. “Oh.”

“After that guy knocked you down, they showed up. Right in time too, because you were about to get skewered. For a ninja, you don’t move very fast.” You shoot him a sour look and he huffs. He seems to hesitate before reaching out to tug on a handful of your cloak. “Stop saving my life, asshole,” he growls.

You start to roll your eyes and realize that that is an extremely terrible idea. You decide to content yourself with interpreting his complaining as gratitude.

“How d’you know they’re not going to off us next?”

“Since they kind of saved our asses, you insufferable prick. Pay attention.”

You frown, feeling like there was something you were supposed to be worried about. What were you doing before you passed out? That’s right, you were trying to save Karkat…

“Hey, you’re all alright, right?”

Karkat snorts at you. “That’s the stupidest sounding thing I’ve heard you say yet. Yeah, we’re fine,” he adds when you glare at him. “I mean, we’re not dead, so hey. I’d say that’s a bonus.”

You finally notice how he’s holding his side. He catches you looking and huffs.

“Don’t look so fucking baffled, _god_. I’ve been stabbed plenty of times. He barely even _got_ me, anyways, because you knocked him off with your fat ass.” He mumbles something unintelligible that kind of sounds a bit like “thanks, I guess”.

You flinch at a peal of metal that grates on your eardrums. You still kind of want to curl up and die. As it is you crouch a little closer to the ground. You jump as fingers suddenly snap in front of your face.

“I _asked_ if you were okay, you asshat.”

You make a noncommittal noise in the back of your throat and close your eyes. You don’t feel quite as nauseous when the world isn’t blurred and spinning. “Peachy.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He almost sound concerned under the blustering roughness. Too bad his every word sends stabbing pains through your head. You feel his grip on your cloak tighten and he calls out, “John? There’s something wrong with him.”

You hear John scrambling over, but a wave of nausea forces you to concentrate on not vomiting, and by the time you’re aware of your surroundings again, it sounds like John’s in the middle of a one-sided conversation. You crack open an eye to see him speaking hurriedly to one of the strangers. The other three are clustered around, and the smallest one keeps sending worried looks in your direction. Your attackers are nowhere to be seen.

You furrow your brow; everything seems like it's moving too fast and disjointedly. Every time you look around, things seems to have jumped ahead and left you floundering, trying to figure out what happened.

“- Yeah, but I don’t think he'll be able to walk,” John says, worrying his lip.

The tallest of the group points to you and then motions to their back. You close your eyes again. You feel exhausted as shit, and you hope that they’ll talk long enough for you to maybe sleep for a little while.

Unfortunately, Karkat prods your side. “Hey.”

“Hngh.”

“ _Hey_.”

You open your eyes just enough to glare at him. “Lemme sleep.”

“Hey, Dave,” John says carefully, kneeling down in front of you. You wish they would leave you alone and let you rest. “Do you think you can stand up?”

You don’t reply and Karkat tugs on your arm. “Can we just pull him up?”

John yelps and Karkat releases you. “Careful! He’s got a bad concussion, I think. Be careful of his head. Dave, can you at least try to stand up? I promise you can rest after that.”

The offer is tempting, and the ground isn’t really that comfortable, although you could probably sleep on a bed of spikes right about now.

You waveringly get to your feet, leaning heavily on John, who guides you the few steps over to the four travellers. You would feel embarrassingly pathetic if you weren't preoccupied with remaining upright.

Every step lances pain through your skull and makes your stomach churn. You nearly vomit as John half-pulls you onto the tallest vagabond's back.

To your utmost relief, instead of being choppy, her steps are smooth and measured. The small one darts around you as you fall in behind the others, but you can only watch him for so long before it makes your head hurt.

You let your aching head fall forwards against your rescuer's shoulder, and eventually the rhythmic movement, ever-present pain, and dazed exhaustion allow you to sink into the comforting release of unconsciousness.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this one up! I edited this the same day I wrote it, so let me know if there's any mistakes :)  
> This one's Roxy's POV  
> (Geez, I'm going to have to add a tag for these two if things keep going like this >_

"Rose. _Rose_. I don't think you understand," you say, giving her your sternest stare. She stares right back, arms crossed and impassive as _shit_. "Roooose."

"Roxy, I have given you my answer." She taps one finger against her arm.

You are having none of this. Not one itty bitty bit of it. "Rose, come on! It'll be _fun_! You know what fun is, right Rose? You've at least heard of it?"

She rolls her eyes, but you think you see a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. You glance over at Jane and wiggle your eyebrows, then offer Kanaya and Jade a wink so they don't feel left out. You're a very considerate friend.

"Roxy, as much as I would like to be exposed to this foreign concept called 'fun', we really do have an obligation to return home-"

"Have you ever been to a festival, Rose?"

She narrows her eyes, sensing that you've got something duplicitous up your sleeve.

"I can't say that I have, no."

"It happens- isn't that a _coincidence_ \- that there's a festival right here, Rose. Tonight. And, if we stay a little later than planned-"

" _Roxy_."

She sounds exasperated now, so you hurry to wrap it up. Seal the deal. Convince her to get to know the foreign concept of 'fun'.

"I know that we gotta go and deliver the message back to camp, but it's really only a teeny tiny bit longer! We can leave tomorrow morning, as soon as you want, and I won't even complain about getting maybe two hours of sleep!" You clasp your hands together, both pleading and promising. You can see her breaking under the weight of your convincingness.

"We really should be back already..."

"It's one night, Rose. We can leave right away tomorrow, I _promise_."

Her shoulders fall just the slightest bit.

"Oh, all right then. _One_ night. And we absolutely do need to leave at dawn."

You pump your fist in the air and launch yourself across the room to pull her into a tight hug. You hear the breath go out of her over your head, but then she pats your back delicately and you know that you're forgiven for trailing her around the house the entire morning and begging to stay for the festival. You even retired to Jane's living room for a formal debate, meaning that you and Rose argued while the other three sat on the couch and glanced back and forth between you.

When you pull back from the hug, you can't hide the wide grin on your face.

"This is going to be so much fun, though, you'll see! Janey was telling me all about the festivals here and I've always wanted to go to one and there's gonna be food and lights and awesomeness."

"Oh?" Rose raises an eyebrow. "I'm afraid that I'm not acquainted with any festive brand of 'awesomeness', either."

You purse your lips and nod. "We're gonna educate you, Rose."

"I look forward to it." She gives you a small smile and you flash her a grin before darting off.

You had been a little worried that you were actually annoying her. Although you need to get back to their camp and deliver that decoded message, you really wanted to stay for the festival. And besides, the camp is really close to the village, so it won't take you long to get there. You fully intend to be up before even Rose, ready to go at that crack of dawn. But first you're going to party until even Rose is having a good time.

-

You're ready to go before the sun's even hit the horizon. You're bouncing around noisily, chattering excitedly to anyone who will listen. Jane's a really good sport about it all, and assures you multiple time that you're not being annoying. In exchange, you help her out with a few chores while you ask her about the festival. You think you're probably repeating questions, but you can't really help it. You tend to run your mouth when you get excited, and you've never been to a real festival before! The most you've ever had were fireworks back at camp, and this will have those and much more.

At one point Jane sends Kanaya and Rose out to get some things. You offered to go instead, but she worried that you'd get distracted and didn't believe you when you promised that you wouldn't. Instead, you helped her bake pale, thin cookies with a layer of lemon jelly on top of them. You may or may not have eaten good portion as well.

When Rose and Kanaya return, Jane pulls you all into one room to rifle through their bags and hand you each a long swathe of fabric. It's a shimmery, gold kind of yellow, and the light dances across it when you move it. You wrap it around your entire head, finding it not nearly as transparent as you had expected, and Jane tells you that you have almost the right idea.

"You're supposed to wrap it around you head and shoulders. And you'll need one of these," she explains, pulling a wooden mask out of her bag of many wonders.

The mask is pretty thin, with holes cut out for eyes. Jane hands you one with the mouth shaped like a cat's and you wink at her before tugging it over your face and bounding over to a mirror. The wood is a very pale white, almost luminescent, with curling gold designs around the eyes and over the cheeks. You think it looks awesome.

You toss the end of your shimmery wrap over your shoulder and sashay over to Jane, making her laugh as you pull her into a five-second tango. You have no idea how to tango, but you try your best, to the amusement of everyone present.

When you realize that tangoing is not a part of your incredibly varied skill set, you push your cat mask up to the top of your head and help Jane hand out the rest of the masks. Rose gets another cat-like one, and you give Jade something that looks like a wolf or a dog. Jane gives Kanaya something with slanted eyes that looks fancy and exotic, and that's right about the time you figure out that Jane isn't intending to accompany you to the festival.

"Janey. Janey, no. I can't let you do this."

"Roxy, it really isn't a problem," she says, waving you off. "I've been to plenty of these festivals, and I have other obligations."

"Obligations like being alone and sulky?" you asks, narrowing your eyes at her.

"Obligations such as catering for a private event," she says, giving you a reassuring smile. "If I can get off early, I'll try to find you all. Don't worry about me, though. You have fun."

You make sure she knows you don't like the idea of leaving her behind. You do this by following her around and making huffy faces, and pulling your mask down over your face whenever she tries to tell you to enjoy yourself at the fest. Jane eventually forces you to stop being broody by baking you extra special secret recipe cookies and making you promise to have fun for her. You do, but you also promise to bring her back some food and anything else that you think she'll like.

When it's finally dark enough, Jane bids you all goodbye and heads off to her catering thing. You're glad that she left first; you wouldn't want to leave her behind while the rest of you are heading out to party.

Shortly after- meaning when Rose and Kanaya are finally ready and meet you and Jade downstairs- you duck out into the streets.

You're immediately struck by the lights, sparks of glimmering flame glowing from yellow paper lanterns hanging from doors and vendors' stalls and dancing tongues of fire from candles that people are carrying in a procession through the streets. The lights flicker on masks and shimmery wraps, giving off an appearance of ghostly beings of half light and half shadow trailing past.

You slip into the procession easily, finding a candle pressed into your hand as soon as you do. A quick glance over your shoulder shows that the others are following, and you turn back to your candle, cupping one hand around the flame to keep it alive.

Every once and a while, you pass by a booth or building with yellow roses. The masked vendors stand like statues with arms full of yellow bouquets.

When the train of people reaches the main square, a large stone space with a small garden in the centre and a statue of an angle in the middle of it, it seems to drift apart. People place their candles on the ground, starting closest to the garden and spiralling outwards, leaving a path from the square's edge all the way up to the angle statue. Some people have roses, and they approach the stone angle to lay them at her feet in a spreading arc.

You watch the he crowd for a while, filling the square with light before melting off into the lights and shadows of the streets. When voices start to babble up in the background, you turn to look for your friends. After a few minutes, you realize that it's hopeless, but you're not bothered. You all know where Jane's house is, and if you don't manage to run into one another again, you'll see them back there.

You randomly pick a street to go down, following the small flow of the crowd before it thins out. You have a little money on you, so you stop by a few stalls, buying sweet cakes and chains of sugar, thin and solid like coloured glass.

You're mesmerized by all the flickering lights, and when you look up you can see faint white glimmers in the sky where the lantern-light doesn't reach. All of the shiny, swirling shades of yellows and golds make the world seem painted in highlights of sun.

You're about to head back to square and try another street in the hopes of different sweets or meeting up with any of the others when a flash of gold in the shadows catches your eye. Off to the side, someone is leaning up against the railing of a small bridge that spans a little pond of koi. Their arms are full of yellow roses, and as they lean forwards the flowers look as though they're about to spill into the pond. Their kimono is a brilliant yellow and gold, looking like it was designed just for tonight.

You make your way over, the splash of the koi getting louder as you get closer. The stranger looks up when your feet hit the bridge, changing from a dusty shuffle to a hollow thump. Their mask is almost fully white, except for twin points of gold at the mouth, like fangs, and delicate swirls of gold on the cheeks.

When you walk towards them, they take a few steps back, clutching at their flowers as their flowing wrap slips lower down on their shoulders.

You lean up against the bridge rail, looking out at the koi and deciding that if the stranger doesn't want you to come over, you won't bother them. Slowly, they shuffle back to the railing themselves. After a moment, they fish around in their kimono and pull out a handful of fish-food, sprinkling it into the water. The koi thrash as they fight each other for it, sending up sprays of water and bubbling sounds.

You grin beneath your mask, hopping up to place your feet on the lowest bar of the railing and lean out over the pond. After a second, you become aware that the stranger is watching you. When you glance over, they hesitantly hold out their hand, palm open and full of fish-food. You reach out to take it, tossing it in a wide arc over the water and laughing as the koi dart out, noisily snapping at the food as their tails churn up mini whirlpools.

You turn back to the stranger, only to find that they're staring at you, standing very still.

"...Roxy?"

You blink at the familiar voice, breaking into a grin and shoving your mask up to the top of your head. " _Callie_?"

She nods, and her voice sounds like it's smiling. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, me neither." You shrug, leaning one hip against the rail. "I was gonna be here, but I managed to convince my friend to stay. I can be pretty persuasive," you say, winking ostentatiously.

Callie giggles. "I don't doubt it."

"Hey, do you want to walk around with me? I lost all my friends." You give her your best, most pathetic look, and she giggles again.

"I'd love to. Have you seen the lantern strings yet?"

You shake your head, replacing your mask and readjusting your shimmery wrap. You let Callie hand you half of her flowers, and then you link your free arm through hers, letting her guide you back through the street and to the main square.

As you pass by the statue of the angel, Callie tugs you over and you each lay your bundles of roses on the mountain of yellow already on the grass.

"She represents the sun goddess' messenger," Callie explains as you walk the path between the candles, still arm in arm. You keep your eyes on the ground, stepping over puddles of melted wax. "The yellow roses are sort of like a tribute."

"A tribute for what?"

"Um, for light? Something like that. Sorry, I'm kind of rambling." Callie ducks her head and you bump her side with your elbow.

"Nah, I think it's neat."

"Really?"

"Heck yes."

"Well, if you want, I could tell you about the lantern strings."

It sounds more like a question, and you nod vigorously. "Ooh, yeah. Tell me about that."

"Well, they're long strings of these tiny paper lanterns along the street. You're supposed to light one with someone else, and it's supposed to represent a prayer for joy and happiness in your relationship."

You make a noise of appreciation. "Hey, can we do one?" you ask, bouncing on your toes excitedly.

"I- well, it's usually for- for lovers. But I guess friends can do it too."

"Yes!" You pump your free hand in the air.

The lantern string street is one of the darkest, illuminated only by the soft orange glow of dozens of fist-sized paper lanterns. You and Callie wander slowly down the path, keeping an eye out for any unlit lanterns. You finally spot one, yellow and rose-patterned, bobbing in the slight breeze between two lit ones. You pull Callie over to it, and she squeezes your arm a little. You take that as a sign she likes it, and you remove the thin stick from inside, lighting it off of the next lantern over before handing it to Callie. Instead of taking it, she wraps her hand around yours.

"You're supposed to light it together," she explains, and you carefully guide the lit tip of the stick into your lantern. When a soft glow blazes to life inside, you both release the twig, looping your arms together again.

"I liked that," you say, and Callie nods. You think she's smiling, but you can't be sure with the mask covering her face.

You aimlessly wander more streets, stopping at vendors' stands for more sweets. When you find a pendant made from a preserved yellow rose petal dipped in amber, you have to buy it, lifting your mask and wrap to loop it around your neck.

You catch Callie's hand as you walk down the street, swinging your hands between you as you follow the streams of people between the houses and vendors stalls, all softly glowing with lanterns and candles.

"What do you want to do now?" you ask her, sidestepping a large group of people walking way too slowly.

"There's not really too much more to do until the parade..."

"Parade?" You hadn't heard anything about a parade.

"Yes, at midnight. There's a light parade, with people dressed in flaming clothes and spitting fire. It's fascinating, but a little frightening," Callie admits sheepishly.

You squeeze her hand. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from the fire."

Callie laughs. "In the mean time, I was thinking we could go to the river."

"Isn't that outside town?"

"Yes, but from here it's only a few minutes' walk."

"Sure, let's go look at some water," you tease.

"It's not just water! There's- well actually, I think I'll leave it as a surprise," she replies mischievously.

As you walk , you attempt to convince her to spill the secret, but Callie is not having it. Your halfhearted prodding dies down when you reach the far end of the street, where crowds of people cluster around street performers. You're tempted to watch, but Callie promises that you'll see much better stuff during the parade.

You have to drop Callie's hand to fight your way through the crowd, and you end up losing her for a few seconds, stumbling through the crowd blindly before catching sight of her at the far edge in a flash of movement. You duck your head to dodge stray elbows and emerge at the edge of the crowd a little rumpled. You straighten your wrap and mask as you glance around for Callie, frowning. You could have sworn that she was just here. You start to turn back, hoping that you'll find her in the crowd again.

And then you see her mask, laying on the ground a few feet away.

You hurry over, scooping it up and looking around in mild panic. The only things nearby are the crowd, an open stretch before a few more scattered, shabby houses, and a tight alleyway between two buildings. Your eyes sweep over the alleyway, but snap back as you notice something.

You jog over, reaching down to lift the shimmery swathe of fabric off of the ground. It was one corner of it, shining in the lantern-light from one of the buildings, that caught your attention. You tuck the mask and wrap into the front of your kimono.

You hurry down the alley, picking up speed when you remember your first meeting, when Callie was cornered by a few bullies. The alley twists between buildings, branching off and getting you all turned around. You're starting to panic quite thoroughly when you hear a scrabbling sound. You freeze, pressing yourself up against the nearest building.

The scrabbling is getting louder, and it's coming from around the corner of the alley in front of you. You slink closer, until you're inches away from the opening, and you place the scrabbling as someone being half-dragged. You recognize the sound of feet struggling against dirt, and you bend your knees, waiting for the sound of struggling to reach you.

You breathe through your nose, steady and quiet, and they're going to reach you in three, two, one-

You catch the first one off guard, snapping out a hand to grab the front of his tunic and pulling him forwards. As he yelps in surprise, momentum pitching him forwards, you stick your foot out to send him sprawling. The second you hear him hit the dirt you whirl into the mouth of the alley, hands in fists.

You have a split second to take in the scene; two boys in masks are dragging a girl along, each grabbing her by an arm as she struggles with her feet firmly planted in the dirt. You recognize Callie's kimono, and then you snap into action.

While they're still frozen in shock, you dart forwards, grabbing one boy by the collar with both hands and pulling tightly. He reacts how you wanted, dropping Callie to reach for your wrists. As soon as his hands leave her, you switch your grip from collar to one of his wrists, pulling him forwards to throw him off balance. He stumbles and you quickly reverse your movement, pulling his wrist up and back, flipping him onto his back. The breath goes out of him, and you're already on the last boy.

When he sees you coming for him, he shove Callie away. She hits the ground with a pained gasp and you grit your teeth in anger.

The boy raises his hands, fisted, but his stance is unbalanced and his hands too far apart. None of them seem to be experienced fighters, but that doesn't stop you from intending to teach this one why he shouldn't throw people around. You kick out at him, catching him in the stomach and slamming him back into the nearest building. He grunts, doubling over, and you spin around to grab a fistful of the back of his collar, throwing him to the ground. He rolls over, scrabbling backwards, and you're distracted from him by a flash of movement in your peripheral.

You duck the punch, following it with a punch to the attacker's stomach before kicking out a leg to trip him. You quickly glance around to get your bearings; it seems that the first boy ran off instantly, and the one that shoved Callie is getting to his feet. You expect him to lunge, but he turns on his heel and sprints off.

The last boy howls after him, "Come back here! Do you know what he'll do to us if we don't-"

You turn on him, slamming a fist into his face. He shouts, cradling his mouth in his hands as you stand over him, fuming.

You grab his collar, yanking his face close to yours. "Listen to me very closely. You go and you tell your friends that if _any o_ f you _ever_ try to touch her again, I'm going to hunt down every single one of you and make you wish that I had finished you off now."

He whimpers and you shove him away, stiffly watching as he scrambles to his feet and runs off, stumbling, one hand over his mouth. You sigh in frustration; he doesn't seem like he's going to be able to convey your threat properly, but you have other concerns at the moment.

You turn, spotting Callie sitting up against the side of a building. You start over, opening your mouth to ask her if she's okay.

You freeze when you see her face. She's half covering it, but you can still see the large, ragged patch of burned skin, looking fiery and raw as the dull light filtering into the alley illuminates it.

You let out a choked gasp, falling to your knees in front of her, and she cringes back, covering her face more, you catch her wrist, trying to move it so you can see how bad the wound is, but she struggles.

"Callie-"

"Roxy, please, let me go." Her voice sounds like she's on the brink of tears.

"Stop that," you snap, fear and firmness making your voice sharp. Callie flinches and you feel a stab of guilt. "Hey, Callie, just- just let me see how bad it is, okay?" You try to soften your voice, but your heartbeat is racing in your throat and you can feel her trembling. It makes you start shaking, too. It must be a really bad wound, and you know that burns _hurt_ -

"Please, Roxy, don't make me," she whimpers.

"I need to see how bad it is," you explain. "I know that Rose knows a little about medicine, and I remembers some stuff too. I can bring you to Jane's and we can put a poultice on it, something to help bring down the pain and prevent infection-"

"W-what?"

"Just- let me take a quick look, okay? I know it hurts, but I just need-"

"I'm not hurt, Roxy," she says, her voice shaky.

"What are you talking about? You're face is _burned_ can't you _feel_ it?" You start to panic again. If she can't feel it, it's worse that you thought. Way, way worse. "Okay, new plan. We go to Jane's _right now-_ " You start to pull her to her feet, but she pulls back, gentle but insistent.

"Roxy, I'm not hurt."

"Callie, your _face_ -"

She flinches when you say that, but it doesn't look like a pained flinch.

"It's not what you think. This isn't from them."

You slowly crouch in front of her, pushing your mask up to the top of your head. She's still hiding her face, but she isn't shaking any more. Not too much, anyways.

"It's not fresh," she explains. "I've- it's an old wound. It's just a scar."

You frown. You're not quite convinced yet. "Lemme see then."

"I- would rather not."

"Callie, I need to make sure you're not hurt. Obviously I can't _make_ you do anything you don't wanna, but I'm kinda freaking out here and I'd really appreciate being sure that you're not badly hurt."

You can see her hesitating, and then she relaxes, shoulders slumping. "Okay."

You wait, tense, but you force yourself to be patient as she slowly, slowly lowers her hand. She won't look at you, and her face is half-turned away, but now that she's not trying to hide in the shadows, you can see that it really is just a scar.

You feel your heart slowing down, although your blood is still humming with an adrenaline that makes you feel buzzy and tired. You let out a relieved breath.

Callie's scar stretches across her face, shiny and pink. It starts between her eyes, stretching down over the bridge of her nose and then most of her left cheek. It looks like it only barely missed her eye.

Now that you have a moment to look at it, you realize that it had only looked fresh because of the flickering orange light, bringing out the reds and making it look bloody and painful.

You sink back on your heels in relief and Callie blinks rapidly a few times.

"Can I- are you done?" Her voice is small, and you frown.

"Well, I believe that the burn's old. But are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No."

"You suuure?" You draw it out, trying to be playful and lift the heavy mood.

"Yes." She hunches her shoulders even more.

"Hey."

Callie doesn't respond.

"Callie."

"Yes?"

You huff. "Look, Callie, I'm sorry I upset you, but I was worried. I though you were hurt, okay?"

She nods, but still doesn't meet your eyes.

You reach into the front of your kimono and pull out her mask and wrap, handing it to her. She starts a little before reaching out hesitantly to take it.

"Hey, Callie?"

"Yes?"

You bite your lip. "I dunno if this is maybe stupid of me to ask, and I totally get it if you wanna go home, but if you still wanna go to the river I'm game."

Callie goes all stiff, and you groan inwardly, worried that you messed up again. But instead of pulling back, she seems to forget that she's being upset and she looks right at you. Her eyes are wide with surprise.

"You still... want to go?"

"What kinda question is that? 'Course I wanna go. If you do."

"E-even after..."

You raise an eyebrow. "After?"

"After seeing..."

You raise the other eyebrow.

"After seeing my face," she bursts out suddenly. "I know I look- like a monster. Even without the burn."

You raise both your eyebrows as high as you can. "Wait, what?" You take a second to process that. "Uh, Callie, I dunno how to tell you this... do you even _own_ a mirror?" Her face starts to fall and you hurry to explain. "Okay, I don't know what your definition of 'monster' is, but if you mean hella pretty then yeah, you got it right."

It takes her a really long time to react, and you wait while she does a speechless kind of fishy face before blinking at you. "Pretty?"

"Yup."

"Me?"

"Yup."

"But I-"

"Callie. Woah there. You aren't about to argue, are you? 'Cause I got a black belt in arguing. You ain't gonna win."

"But I'm not-"

"Callie." You stop her by poking her in the middle of the forehead, startling her a little. "You clearly haven't noticed, but you have the prettiest eyes ever. You do," you say when she starts to argue. "They're the prettiest green I've ever seen. And so what if your hair's white?" You reach out to pat her head. "It's really soft, and that's what matters, in my opinion."

"But my scar-"

You shrug one shoulder. "Ya still pretty, ya doof. Now come on, are we going to the river?" "

I-I- yes?"

You snicker, getting to your feet and reaching out to help Callie up. You readjust your mask to sit at the top of your head, a little off to the side. After a pause, Callie does the same and you grin at her. You both drape your shimmery wraps over your hair and shoulders, and then you slip your arm through Callie's, holding on with both hands.

"Gotta be careful. You get into trouble if I'm not around," you explain, and she giggles. You grin; when she laughs, her face lights up and her eyes go all scrunchy at the corners.

At the river, you really are surprised. Callie laughs at you as you gape at the water, dotted with hundreds of tiny candles on little makeshift boats, bobbing lightly downstream. You insist on making one, and after scrambling around for sticks and reeds to build a mini raft, the two of you launch it into the water. You spend a long time sitting on the bank with your feet dangling near the water, talking and laughing and watching the lights drift past.

Unfortunately, the parade starts way too soon. Callie glances upwards and suggests that you go back into town if you want to see it. You leave reluctantly; you enjoyed messing around at the river, and Callie puts her mask back on when you go into the village.

You have to admit that, despite your momentary disappointment, the parade is fascinating. There are acrobats with burning wristbands, people in fancy costumes with flaming headdresses, fireworks in the shape of sunbursts, and so much more. You watch it openmouthed, and Callie laughs at you every once in a while when you gasp over flips and fire breathers. As the parade progresses, winding through the village, the heat from all the fire and the bodies starts to get to you.

You try to ignore it, but eventually is starts to make you feel a little lightheaded, and when you tell Callie, she maneuvers the two of you into a side alley, right on the edge of the town square. You both lean up against the side of a building, letting the shadows cool you down.

"Are you enjoying the parade?" Callie asks, and you nod vigorously.

"The fire's neat. I've never seem anyone _juggle_ it."

Callie pushes her mask up, smiling. "A lot of the tricks are a synthetic kind of fire, or with some kind of alcohol that burns off."

"Still neat. I think it'd be cool to learn to do that." You close your eyes, feeling warm and content. "It would be interesting to fight with it, if you could get a weapon that wouldn't burn. You could coat a staff in that alcohol," you muse. "Man, I should totally do that."

"I don't think you need it," Callie laughs. "You do just fine with bare hands."

You nudge her shoulder. "Yeah, but it'd still be cool. Imagine facing down someone with a flaming staff."

"I suppose that would be intimidating."

"Exactly. Oh dang, imagine if you could do that coloured fire stuff that those dancers were doing. You could make it _pink_!"

Callie smiles at your enthusiasm. You're both quiet for a moment before she clears her throat quietly.

"Thank you, Roxy."

"Nah, don't mention it. I haven't fought anyone in ages, so it's good practice."

"And... thank you for not... for being my friend."

"Aw. Thanks for being mine," you say, pulling her into a one-armed hug. "You're lots of fun." You rest the back of your head against the building. "Man, I don't wanna leave."

"You're leaving?" Callie asks, quickly looking to you.

"Yeah, I've gotta go with Rose and the others back to their camp."

"Camp?"

"It's up a ways in the forest," you explain. "But when I'm done there, I could come back."

"Up... in the forest?" Callie's starting to sound scared, and she pulls back from your arm around her shoulders.

"What's wrong?"

"You're- you're not- oh, no, I should've _known_."

"Known what?"

Callie's backing away from you, her eyes wide and scared. "I know that forest. There's a ninja clan there. You're- Roxy, tell me you're not..."

"A ninja?" you ask, confused. "Why's that a problem?"

Callie's hand covers her mouth and she takes another step back. "No."

"Callie-" You take a step towards her and she shakes her head, stumbling back. Your stomach lurches and you get the feeling that things are about to go really, really bad.

"Oh no, no. You're a _ninja_."

"I-"

Before you can swear you'd never hurt her, before you can even get another word out, something seems to click in her eyes. She turns on her heel, and then she's running, running away from you.

"Callie!"

You try to hurry after her, to explain, but she knows these alleys better than you and you lose her in minutes. By the time you give up on following her, you feel sick. Your stomach hurts, and you have to take a moment to sit down and collect yourself. You can't stop picturing the horror in her eyes the instant before she turned and ran.

It takes you an hour to find your way back out of the labyrinthine twists and turns, and by then the streets are mostly empty, filled only with stragglers and candles melted down to their stubs.

You numbly make your way back to Jane's, feeling oddly distant. You still feel stricken by Callie's sudden departure. You shouldn't have said anything. You should have stayed for the whole parade, then said goodbye and promised to meet up again. You shouldn't have scared her off.

When you get back to Jane's, she mistakes your shock for exhaustion, kindly telling you that everyone else is in bed. You stumble to your room, crawling into bed. Maybe when you wake up, it will have all been a bad dream. Maybe you'll be able to find Callie and apologize, promise that she's safe with you. Maybe you'll understand what you did wrong.

You draw your knees to your chest, curling up and biting your lip. The last thing you see before you fall asleep is the rose on your bedside table, already starting wilt, yellow petals browning at the corners edges and sagging limply, seeming to droop listlessly towards the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :P I had a lot of fun writing this one (especially the kiss scene >:)   
> This one's Dave's perspective, and the next might be too. I need to work on organizing timeline stuff so that everyone meets up at the right time, so I might not be rotating through characters like I have been.  
> (Also you're all so nice to me in the comments! Please enjoy!<3)

You open your eyes, and it feels like daggers of light are being thrust through your sockets and into your brain. You shut your eyes, squinting them tightly as the pain settles itself deeply in the centre of your forehead. When it becomes clear that it isn't going to fade, you groan, drawing your eyebrows together. You only succeed in making it worse.

"John! He's awake!"

The voice is rough, loud, and far too Karkat for your tastes. You slowly open your eyes a fraction at time, allowing yourself to adjust. Even so, when you're finally able to take in your surroundings, the light still seems a million times too bright.

You register the roof directly above you, a light-coloured stone. You must be in some sort of cave. Judging by the play of light and shadows on the coppery rock, sunlight must be filtering in from the cave entrance.

Thinking of outside, you expect to feel a chill, and your attention is drawn to the thick blankets heaped over you. You shift, wrinkling your nose as turfs of fur tickle it.

" _John_!" Karkat snaps. You hear a bit of shuffling, then an irritated sigh. "Of fucking course they left already. Go get them, will you?"

You wonder if Karkat has finally lost his mind. He certainly doesn't seem to be talking to _you_.

You begin the arduous process of rolling onto your side- which causes you to experience the beginnings of dizziness- and dragging yourself upright- which throws your dizziness into full-blown nausea.

The blood rushes out of your head with a painful throbbing. You bring your hands to your temples, gritting your teeth. You close your eyes against the pain and the roiling sensation in your gut.

"Stay _down_ , you idiot," Karkat snaps, and this time he's definitely talking to you.

"Where's John?" you manage to ask. Your voice is rough, your mouth is dry, and speaking only makes your head throb harder.

You move your hands form your temples to your ears as he replies.

"He went out to scope the area."

"Where are we?"

There's a silence, and you crack your eyes open to see Karkat looking at you as if you're stupid. He speaks slowly, enunciating his words. Much too loudly.

"The mountains. We were attacked."

"I _know_ ," you snap. "I just- thought we might've got out." You smack your tongue in your mouth. It's uncomfortably dry. Thinking about it isn't making you feel any less sick. "How long...?"

"You passed out yesterday," Karkat grumbles. "We got to this cave last night. The Exiles knew where it was, lucky for us. I think they have a bunch of places like this all stocked up with supplies. The stronghold was probably one of theirs, too."

"Who?" You blink dumbly, feeling like you should know who he's talking about.

Instead of speaking, Karkat points past you, deeper into the cave. Turning makes you wince and press a hand to your stomach.

You almost don't notice the figure in the shadows, but he sees you looking and shuffles a little closer. You recognize him easily enough; the small stranger wrapped from head to foot in a large cloak. You think you can see the black glint of armour underneath, but straining to see makes your eyes hurt.

It takes you too long to remember that he showed up with the other three, rescuing you from the bandit gang. You feel stupidly slow right now and you'd be worried if you didn't feel like you were about to either vomit or pass out.

"They can't talk," Karkat tells you. "They used to be a part of the assholes that attacked us, but they escaped." He frowns. "Well, that's what John and I managed to piece together. The bandits caught them and cut their tongues out."

"Shit," you mumble, gritting your teeth. You try to swallow down your rising nausea, but it isn't working.

"John decided to call him the Mayor," Karkat continues, motioning. "He doesn't seem to mind."

You clap a hand over your mouth, lurching to your feet. You only manage to make it a few steps before the world slides out from under you and you fall to your knees.

To your relief, Karkat seems to finally grasp the idea that you're about to be sick all over the cave, because you feel him grab you, and then in a disorienting lurch of movement you're outside.

Your hands find snow, and just in time, because you literally cannot hold it back for another second. When you finish vomiting, you spit into the snow, gratefully accepting the canteen that Karkat shoves into your chest.

When your mouth finally stops tasting like something died in it, you limply let Karkat take back the canteen. Your throat still burns form the acid, but there's not much you can do about it.

You're shaky, your head hurts, and everything's too bright and too loud and too unfamiliar. You wish John was here. Right now, all you really want is someone to feel sorry for you. Besides yourself, that is.

To your confusion, you feel a hand lightly press against your back. You turn your head, surprised to see the stranger, the Mayor, hesitantly patting you between the shoulder blades.

He pauses when you look over, and you give him a small, pitiful smile. You see a flash of a returned grin from beneath his cloak before he reaches over to tug on Karkat's arm. The Mayor, once he has successfully dragged Karkat's attention away from grimacing at the vomit and muttering curses, points in the direction of your pile of furs. Fuck, it seems so far away.

You close your eyes and groan again, letting yourself slump to the side. You're finally starting to feel the cold wind and the icy burning in your hands from the snow.

You're startled when, instead of bumping up against the cave mouth, you're caught by Karkat. His arm loosely and awkwardly fits around your waist.

"Hey."

His voice is really loud at this proximity, but that this point you're too exhausted to do more than suffer quietly. You let your head fall against his shoulder. Your skull feels like it's pulsing with pain.

"You look like shit," Karkat snorts.

"Feel like shit," you reply, and that's all he's getting out of you. Talking is such an effort.

" _Hey_. Are you dying?" He shakes you a bit and you wince. You hear him grunt and hiss "ow". You think the Mayor might have hit him. You owe the Mayor your life.

"Dave. Are you even listening, fuckwad? Can you even walk?"

You make a small noise in the back of your throat.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Alright, asshole, _fine_. _Be_ difficult. If you throw up on me, I'll skin you alive and feed your innards to the birds."

His grip on you shifts, but you don't really pay much attention to it until you're being lifted into the air. The movement is enough to almost make you retch a second time, but once your equilibrium settles, you feel more throbbing pain than nausea.

Karkat carries you across the cave to your blankets, and each step is a lightening bolt through your skull.

When Karkat sets you down, you feel a chill seeping into you from the cave floor, going straight through the furs underneath you. You shiver, and then there's a hand on your forehead. You can't bring yourself to open your eyes, but from the way it probes, light and delicate, you know it's the Mayor. His touch is warm, and you feel him pull the furs up around your chin.

His fingers comb through your hair, careful and gentle, but it's enough to take your mind off of the pain until your exhaustion gets the better of you.

-

You're slowly brought back into consciousness, guided by the oddly comforting sensation of fingers winding through your hair. You lethargically come to realize that touch feels different from the Mayor's.

You brace yourself before opening your eyes. The dizziness isn't there, but the sensitivity still is. And, oddly enough, you find yourself looking up at Karkat. You blink at him, more bewildered than anything else.

His fingers still and his eyes dart away from yours. "The Mayor went out to find John and the others because Gamzee was taking too fucking long. He wouldn't leave until I took his place." He sounds a little grudging about the last bit.

"Hm." You let your eyes fall closed again. "S'nice."

After a second, his fingers come back to life, trailing from your hairline to the top of your head, smooth and rhythmic and relaxing. You lose track of time; all you know is that you're hovering on the edge of sleep when you hear a distant scrabbling and John's worried voice.

"Dave? Karkat, how is he? The Mayor came running and I wasn't sure if-" He drops to his knees beside you and you look up at him. He hesitantly reaches out to touch your cheek and you give him a small, reassuring smile that has nothing to do with how your heart just flipped.

"You're up," John says. He has the decency to keep his voice quiet. Despite the relief in his tone, a frown pulls at his mouth. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit."

"What hurts?"

"Head, mostly." You feel tired again, even though you haven't done anything but lay around. All the same, your eyes fight to close.

"Badly?" John asks, biting his lip.

You give an affirmative grunt and then he's smoothing his hand over your hair. Huh, you hadn't even noticed when Karkat stopped.

John's touch is familiar and comfortable, and it doesn't take long before you're melting into it, fighting to stay awake.

John laughs at you, but his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes and you notice the way his eyes droop. "Go to sleep, Dave. It's good for head injuries."

"Only if you do," you mumble. Now that you're looking closer, you can plainly see that he looks exhausted. The worry around his eyes isn't helping.

"Alright, deal," he replies, hand leaving your hair so that he can snuggle up beside you under the furs. He gives you another tiny smile as he reaches to brush the bangs off of your forehead.

You blink at him, you stomach feeling warm. John's never been so physically affectionate with you before, and even though you know it's because you're injured and half-asleep and he's probably just relieved, you can't help the flutter in your chest. But there's something about the way his fingers trail over your forehead and the crease between his eyebrows that gives you pause.

"What's up?"

"Haha. I can never get past you, can I?" His smile fades as he sobers. "I was really worried about you. Concussions... You can die from them, Dave." His voice sounds small. "Especially when you faint. You're not supposed to sleep right after and I was kind of thinking that you might not wake up."

"Dude. I'm not dying."

Your eyes refuse to open the next time you blink and you have to content yourself with the sound of John's voice and the warmth of his hand as it finds yours.

"I know. But, Dave, be careful, alright?" His hand squeezes yours. "I don't want to lose my best friend."

The words are half a dream, and you don't know if he hears your hum of acknowledgement or if you're already asleep.

-

It's his fingertips sliding from your grasp that wakes you, your own fingers instinctively tightening around his. John laughs at you and you sleepily blink up at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Where're you going?"

"Well, I _was_ going to talk to Karkat, because the Exiles don't really talk and Gamzee doesn't seem to want to either. But now that you're awake..." He trails off, shifting around to settle back down beside you. He flashes you a grin. "Karkat can wait a while."

You give him a sleepy smile.

"You look a little better," John observes. He doesn't look so worried anymore, and you feel a wave of relief. "

I feel better. The light's not so bad anymore, and I don't feel sick."

"Does your head hurt?"

"Eh. Not really." It's only half a lie.

John's grin widens. "Good."

You glance over his shoulder and realize why the light isn't bother you. It's well into the night, and the only illumination comes from a small fire burning by the cave entrance, ringed with Karkat, Gamzee, and the Exiles. You'd feel bad about ditching Karkat, but he seems to be animatedly chattering away to the Mayor, not caring that he's getting no response. You can't make out individual words, but from the tone of his voice he sounds like he's enjoying himself. Well, as much as Karkat _can_ enjoy himself, anyways.

"Hey, Dave," John says, drawing your attention back to him. "Be more careful, okay?"

You can't help a smirk. "John, I dunno if you've noticed, but we're kind of ninja. Danger sort of comes with the territory."

"Still, though. At least try?"

You reach over to muss his hair. "Yeah, alright, I'll try. No promises though."

He nods, disregarding the last part. "You'd better." He shifts a little, and for the first time you notice the shadow of a grimace on his face when he moves.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt so bad anymore."

"You're hurt?" You instantly tense up, alert with caution.

"Not badly!" John assures you quickly. "I just took a hit to the side, that's all."

"Can I see?"

He hesitates. "It looks a lot worse that it actually is."

You don't say anything, but you have a feeling that your expression gets a little more panicky, because John bites his lip. He sighs before reaching down to lift the hem of his tunic.

"It really looks way worse than it is," he insists, pulling the fabric up to expose his ribs.

Your mouth goes dry the moment you catch sight of the bruise. Numbly, you reach out, fingertips hovering an inch away from his skin.

"Jesus."

The bruised area is about the size of your palm, all discoloured and yellowed at the edges. The centre is warring between and deep purple and a painful, inky shade of blue.

"Holy fuck, John."

"It's not that bad!"

He tries to cover it back up but you stop him, gently resting your fingers on the edge of the bruise. You carefully watch his face for any sign of pain.

"I told you it doesn't-" He breaks off with a wince as you move your fingers closer to the blue area.

You snatch back your hand even as you snap at him. "Looks like it fucking hurts to me. Has anyone taken a look at this? You could have internal bleeding, or-"

"Don't worry, one of the Exiles took a look at it. It's only a bad bruise."

"You can't travel with that," you say flatly.

"It'll heal!"

"Not anytime soon."

He huffs at you, and you worry that you've actually upset him until he reaches out to grab your hand, tugging his tunic back down.

"We're not going anywhere for a few days, anyways. You need time to heal, too." He smiles, and it relaxes his expression into something soft and open. "We'll both get better, okay?"

"Okay," you mutter, and John grins. You don't think he should be lugging around a pack when his side looks like that, but you know that he won't take no for an answer if he's determined to do things his way.

"Right. Now get some rest."

You squeeze his hand, inching closer to rest your head on his shoulder. "My neck is killing me," you complain, and John pats your head.

"Fine, I'll be your pillow. Now go to _sleep_."

You close your eyes, trying to memorize his scent and the rhythm of his breathing before sleep drags you away once more. 

-

You spend the next few days in a haze of sleep. You're only ever away long enough to eat something and have a drink before John makes you get more rest. As you start to feel better, John starts to spend less time doting on you, and you try not to miss his nearness or the feeling of his hand in yours. You fail miserably, especially at trying not to be jealous when he laughs at something Karkat says.

You make sure to harass John about his bruise, but it looks like it's healing nicely, and when you can finally stand up without wanting to keel over, you agree to finally get ready to continue on your mission. John refuses to let you even pack your bags, so you amuse yourself by throwing shoddily made snowballs at the back of his head until one accidentally hits Karkat and he cusses the both of you out.

When you finally don your pack, you narrow your eyes at John. Yours feels suspiciously light considering everything John was carrying around. You make sure to give him a few scathing looks, but he seems unaffected.

Your irritation quickly wears off once you start moving, anyways. You hadn't realized how much you wanted to be moving around when you were stuck in that cave. It feels good to breathe the sharp, fresh air and walk over the rough, pebbled ground of the winding path.

The path winds up the side of a mountain, doubling back on itself multiple times before running straight, ascending sharply to where you know the temple must be, hidden somewhere behind rock and snow and ice.

You end up walking for the better part of the morning before stopping for a rest. You're guiltily glad that John skimped on filling your pack; you're badly out of shape, and you're head still hurts a little, especially after the incessant rhythm of walking for hours. You end up stopping by a small outcropping of ice frosted boulders, taking a few minutes to drink some water and shrug off your packs. John goes off with a couple of the Exiles to scout the area, and you pile up all the packs and lean back against them.

You raise an eyebrow when you notice Karkat walking with the Mayor, who keeps prodding at him and tugging at the corner of Karkat's pack.

"I'm _fine_ ," Karkat growls, trying to evade him, but the Mayor is having none of it. The moment Karkat sits down, the Mayor tries to steal his pack, managing to get it halfway off of Karkat's back.

" _Stop_ that, I said I'm _fine_ , asshole," Karkat snaps.

"Dude, what the hell, don't talk to the Mayor like that."

Karkat glares over at you, and in the moment where his attention focuses on you, the Mayor yanks his bag away and runs over to you, clambering atop the pile of packs.

Karkat swears colourfully, stomping around a bit before wincing and sullenly plodding over to sit beside you.

"Bro, come on, the Mayor is literally offering to carry your bag for you. Chill out."

"I can do it myself," he hisses back.

You just raise both your eyebrows and stare at him. He scowls at you in response, loosely hugging himself around the stomach.

You feel something tap your head, and you crane your neck back to look up at the Mayor, who is trying to get your attention by nearly clubbing you in the head with a pack. When he sees you looking, he retracts the bag, pointing to Karkat and then motioning to his side. It takes you a minute to understand, but when you do, your eyes snap back to Karkat.

"Yo, you didn't tell me you were hurt."

Karkat turns his glower on the Mayor, who just smiles back and swings his feet.

"I'm not."

"The Mayor says you are."

"I'm getting better."

"'Getting better' doesn't mean better."

"Shut the fuck up."

"How bad is it?"

"None of your fucking business."

"Dude, lemme see." You reach for him and he swats your hand away. You persist until he grabs your wrists, and you head but him in the shoulder. You regret it shortly after it jars your brain into a paste. "Ow."

"Oh my god, you fucking idiot, stop," Karkat snaps, but he releases your wrists. "You're so stupid, how have you not died from doing something like eating a poisonous plant yet?"

"I don't eat random plants I find in the woods. And you're changing the subject." You narrow your eyes at him. "Does John know about it? Because I doubt he'd let you travel if you can barely even carry your pack."

" _I can carry my own damn pack_!"

"The Mayor doesn't think so and I trust his judgement."

Karkat swears again before clenching his hands into fists. "John knows." When that doesn't seem to sway you, he grits his teeth before tugging up his shirt to reveal a swathe of bandages wrapped around his middle. "There, are you happy?"

"What the hell happened?"

"You remember just before you got knocked out?" He's looking at the toes of his boots, now, scuffing them in the snow. "Well, that asshole was about a couple seconds away from running me through. You- uh- kind of- saved my life. So. Yeah. Thanks for that."

You stare at him for a second. You vaguely remember noticing him holding his side and him brushing it off. The problem is that the number of bandages doesn't look like some small injury.

"Are you sure you should be moving?"

" _Yes_ ," he snarls, and you raise your hands.

"Woah, chill. Don't bite my head off, I'm just trying to make sure you don't end up dying. Oh, hey, is that why you've been hanging at the back and moping around?"

"What the fuck? I haven't been _moping_."

"Yeah, you totally have."

"And it's not because I'm hurt!"

"Uh huh. Sure."

"I mean it, fuckwad. I'm just- never mind."

"What?"

"I said never mind." You poke him in the side and he pushes you. You poke him again.

" _God_ , fine, I'm just wondering how long I have left before you get tired of me and ditch me," he snarls, looking like he regrets the words the moment they leave his lips.

"Wait, what? Hey, we're not going to just abandon you in the middle of nowhere. Holy shit, do you really think we'd actually do that to you?"

Karkat looks uncomfortable, and he still won't meet your eyes. "You don't have to pretend like you want me around. I know that no one actually likes me, I'm used to it. Besides, it's not like you have to pretend to care about me. I came along because I wanted to find Noir, not because you _made_ me."

"Wait. Wait, you- you think I'm _pretending_ to care about you? Karkat- hey, Karkat, would you look at me?" You wait until he does. "I know that- shit, I know I was an ass to you when we first met, but- okay, well, I don't really have an excuse for that other than the fact that I _am_ an ass, but I'm not _pretending_ to care about what happens to you. Shit, Karkat, do you really think I would've gotten clocked in the fucking head for you if I didn't care about keeping you safe? We're not waiting to get rid of you or anything. God, if you end up leaving- I'll fucking _miss_ you, okay?"

For a moment Karkat just stares at you, mouth open a little bit. You see something change in his eyes, go from shock to some sort of comprehension, and then suddenly his hands are fisted in your cloak and he's leaning in.

And then he's kissing you. Karkat's kissing you. Holy fuck, Karkat's kissing you. You realize that your body has gone stiff, frozen up, and by the time you remember how to move, Karkat's already pulling away.

His eyes search yours, and you watch as the hope in them fades. His grip on your cloak loosens, and then his hands fall away.

"Fuck. I- sorry." He looks at you one more time, but you're still trying to process what just happened, and he starts to scramble to his feet. "That was stupid. I know you like John. Fucking- s-sorry."

His sudden movement, watching him turn and stumble away, launches your mind into overdrive. He kissed you. That was nice- you think it was nice- you were a little preoccupied with that mere fact that he was kissing you, and you didn't really have time to think about what was actually going on. Do you like him like that? You definitely like Karkat as a friend, and you like how he really seems to care about things when you get past his rough demeanour, and you think it's endearing how he smiles at things when he doesn't think anyone's watching him, and you like how soft his hands are and the way he overreacts about things and the way he smells like some kind of spice-

Oh. Oh fuck.

"Karkat, wait," you call after him, but he doesn't stop. You scramble to your feet.

 _I know you like John._ He's right about that, you'll always love John, but you think you might just love Karkat too. Not in an I-can't-have-John-so-I'll-settle-for-you way, but in a fuck-me-I'm-in-love-with-my-two-best-bros way. Oh fuck, you're so screwed.

" _Karkat_!"

He doesn't even slow down, but you're running after him, and you catch him a second before he ducks around a tall pile of rock. You grab his wrist and spin him around, and before you can even get a word out he's already blubbering.

"Fuck, I said I'm sorry, it was stupid and it didn't mean anything, just leave me the fuck alone-"

You silence him by slamming him back into the rock and kissing him. He lets out a startled little yelp, but this time you actually have the presence of mind to notice how it only takes a second for his body to relax and soften in your grip. You let go of his wrist and move your arms around his waist, breathing in his scent through your nose as it presses against his cheek.

He starts kissing back quickly, lips soft and shaky and unsure at first, but as soon as his hands find their way into your hair, his movements become surer and deeper. He pulls back for a heartbeat to suck in a breath, and you close the space between you. His lips are rough and capped from the wind, but god, you couldn't imagine them any other way.

Karkat pulls back from you with a soft, sucking noise, and you feel his eyelashes on your cheek a second before his mouth finds the soft spot between your jaw and your ear.

"Oh fuck," you breathe, grabbing a fistful of the back of his cloak as your body suddenly goes weak. You can feel your pulse hammering inside your chest, and your veins feel like they're buzzing, and you feel hot despite the snow and ice that surrounds you.

Karkat's arms move to your waist, holding you up, and you let the fingers of your free hand creep up the back of his head, scratching at the back of his neck before tangling in his hair. He makes a soft, breathy noise against your throat and your own breath catches.

He pulls back, just enough to see your face, and he looks like he wants to say something, but before he can even get the first word out he's on your mouth again, one hand coming up to cup the side of your face. His hand is so soft, so warm, and you let him hold you steady as he kisses you, lips moving in slow, steady tides until you're both shaky and breathless.

You brace one hand against the rock behind Karkat, a little dizzied, but in a way that feels fucking fantastic. Karkat's breathing heavily, but his hand is still on your cheek and it's making you feel all kinds of unsteady.

Your hands seem to move to his hips of their own volition, and then your body follows, leaning into him as you pin him against the rocks and kiss him. God, you never want to leave his lips.

Your fingers slide upwards slowly, towards his ribs, and you're too focused on the way his teeth catch your lip to remember his injury. He makes a small noise that is definitely pained, and the little flinch that accompanies it has you releasing him instantly, feeling a surge of worry course through you.

"Shit, I'm sorry. You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he rasps back. He reaches out to grab the front of your cloak, pulling you back. "Just startled me."

Your faces are so close, and you can feel his hot breath on your face and the rapid rise and fall of his chest under you. You're less than a second away from kissing him until his face flushes crimson when you hear John's voice ring out from around the pile of boulders.

"We're back!"

Karkat lets out a huffy sigh and you smile, leaning in to kiss his neck, right between the ear and jaw, before pulling back. You know that if you'd gone for the lips, it would've been another couple minutes at least.

Karkat looks a little shaky, so you grab his hand and peel him off the rock. He gives your shoulder a halfhearted little punch when you smirk at him, and you lightly elbow his uninjured side.

"C'mon, John's waiting."

You wipe your mouth off on your shoulder before ducking around the boulders, hoping John doesn't notice how swollen your and Karkat's lips are.

He doesn't seem to; he flashes you both a grin. " _There_ you are. Are you guys ready to keep going?"

"Yup." You shoulder your pack, smirking at Karkat as he tries to convince the Mayor to hand over his pack. The effort is futile. When he sees you grinning at him, Karkat chucks a snowball at your head.

You start back down the mountain path, except this time Karkat falls in beside you. Everyone's walking close together, so he doesn't speak, but he graces you with a shy little smile. You reach out and catch his hand, threading your fingers through his, and you grin as he ducks his head and his ears redden.

A couple times, when you're sure no one's watching, you lean over to kiss the top of Karkat's head. He goes scarlet to the tips of his ears, and squeezes your hand tightly. It's even better when night falls and no one else can see when you lean over and kiss his cheek or his forehead.

It's almost a disappointment when you see lights flickering high above your head, marking the stone gate that leads to the mountain temple. You press close against the rock as you slowly inch your way towards the gate, more of a rough archway cut into the face of the mountain. Torches are set into the sides of the rock, casting dim shadows into the blackest tunnel you have ever seen.

"We go through here," John explains when you've reached the gate. "It leads through to a kind of sheltered space between a few of the mountaintops, I think. That's where the temple should be."

It's nice to step into the tunnel and out of the snow, but it's dark and your footsteps and breaths echo off the rock. Karkat grips your hands almost painfully hard and your can feel him pressing close against your side. You run a thumb over his wrist in what you hope is a soothing fashion, and he slowly starts to relax.

Karkat yawns a couple of times, and by the time the tunnel opens up onto a large, flat space lined with sheer mountainside, you're nearly tripping over your own feet. The sheer sides are set with heavy doors, and as you all spill out into the icy courtyard, a few of them creak open.

You're too exhausted to bother with greetings as someone in blue and white robes leads you through one of the doors and down chilly, carved passageways. You lose track of the turns you go through, but you assume that you were expected when you're lead through another door and into a room lined with thick mats and furs, with a table piled with food. The Exiles attack the food the moment the robed monk departs, but you're too tired to think of food.

You drag yourself over to one of the thick, soft mats, and Karkat curls up beside you. Under the furs, you let an arm fall over his waist, rubbing his back until his breathing deepens. When the others pile into their own beds, you spend a few moments looking at the softness of Karkat's sleeping face before kissing his brow and allowing your own eyes to close.

 

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOrry, this one is really short, but I wanted to get it posted asap because school's coming up, and I don't know when I'll have time to write. I hope it's not too sloppy. As an apology, this one's pretty much 80% smut B)

You can hear the rasp of your breath, the pounding of your own heartbeat over the driving rain. Your lungs burn from running, but you don't seem to be getting any closer. Wet leaves slap at your face and your boots slide on the slick grass, but the clearing looks as far away as ever.

You slip a little, a combination of the downhill slope and the mud. Your gaze breaks away from the clearing as you catch yourself, and when you look back, you're among the trees that ring the clearing.

The space is filled with dark shapes- bodies. Some on the ground, others clashing with the only one not wrapped in shadows. You reach for your sword but your fingers close on air.

You blink, and suddenly the dark figures have their solitary opponent pinned.

Reflex sends you running forwards, but your foot barely hits the ground before one of the enemy is hefting a sword. You're not even halfway to them before they run the sword through the man, sending the blade deeply into the tree at his back.

" _Bro_!" The strangled cry escapes you involuntarily. None of the figures notice you, but it hardly matters; it suddenly hurts to breathe and you can't move. You can't tear your eyes away from the sword, dripping thick streams of red onto the ground, into the puddles of warm rain. There's so much blood, it shouldn't be possible.

You take a step back, but lightening splits the sky, starkly illuminating the area. The ground is drenched, but not with rainwater. A thick layer of blood covers everything, running down your arms and weighing down your clothes as it streams from the black clouds. You can feel it running down your face, dripping into your mouth with the bitter, nauseating taste of iron.

You try to move away, but the tide of blood is rising and soon it's up to your knees, drowning the corpses on the ground. You fight your way back to the tree, where Bro's body is pinned solidly to the wood. A waterfall of blood gushes from where the sword pierces him.

The blood is at your waist now, a sick, sticky tide of death. It slows you down, and it's pressing in on your chest by the time your hand finds the grip of the sword. You struggle to hold on, fighting to keep your head up, but then you look up as thunder crashes and lightening illuminates Bro's body. Except it's not Bro. It's Jake.

Your hand slips, and the current suck you under. You have one last, wild glimpse of rain-soaked leaves and bloody clouds before your head goes under.

-

You wake with a start, heart racing and hands shaking, but you don't move. You lay still, trying to measure your breathing even as your lungs fight to escape your chest.

The nightmares aren't new- you've had them for years. You know Dave has them, too, because he used to wake you up with his screams before he got older and they faded into tears.

You're still shaking, badly. You thought you'd gotten better than this- but it's not really the nightmare that has you trembling. It's the image of Jake, bloody and glassy-eyed.

You sit up, covering your mouth with one hand and running the other through your hair. Your forehead is damp with sweat.

"Good golly, Dirk, are you alright?"

You hadn't even noticed him stirring beside you. You drop your hands, hoping he doesn't notice your unsteadiness.

Jake leans closer to you, eye wide. "Goodness gracious, you're pale as a ghost!"

"I'm fine. Just a dream," you mutter. "Go back back to sleep."

Jake cautiously puts a hand on your shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

You turn to face him, ready to reiterate your previous statement. The look in his eyes stops you, all stubborn, green concern. You find yourself reaching for his shoulders, catching him a little off guard as you pull him towards you and crush your mouth against his.

He's stiff from surprise, but he melts against you as you suck at his lip. His hands travel up your chest, but you quickly remedy the slowness of his movements by biting at his lower lip until his hands fist roughly in your hair.

Jake shifts, straddling you, and you firmly grab his ass before switching your hands to his hips. You roll him off of you, knees on either side if him as his back hits the mattress. He grunts, but your mouth is on his neck before he can recover from his surprise. His hand is back in your hair after a few seconds of sucking below his jaw.

His head tips back and you take full advantage, sucking and biting your way from one ear to the other. You grab a handful of his tunic as his breathing turns to rough panting, moving up to kiss him until he moans. You swallow the noise, shuddering, before returning to abuse his neck.

"That's what I want to hear," you growl in his ear before choosing a spot by the corner of his jaw. You alternate between sucking, biting, and licking, and by the time the hickey has started to form, Jake's no longer holding back his appreciation.

You leave your mark all over his neck, encouraged by his whimpers and sighs and moans. You reach down to grip his hip with one hand, holding him still as you pull his tunic over his head.

You freeze at the sight of the bandages. "Shit."

Jake half-sits, balancing on his elbows. He's breathing hard and his eyes are half-lidded, but he still managed to give you a look of concern. "Are you alright, mate?"

"I just- kind of forgot that you were hurt." You feel like an asshole. "Sorry, I'll just-"

You start to awkwardly pull away from him, but Jake stops you by snagging your waistband. "Dirk, mate. I'm alright. Really," he insists when you don't move.

"I'm not risking opening your injuries."

Jake huffs. "Fine, then, have it your way." His hands slide from your waistband to your thighs.

"Jake," you say, but it doesn't sound nearly as firm as you meant it to be.

"I wasn't aware that me being injured prevents you from enjoying yourself."

You feel your face warming when you realize what he means. "Jake, look," you start.

"Pants off, Strider."

"Come on, that's not f- _fuck_ ," you moan as his slowly rubs his palm against your crotch. Goddamn cheater.

"Come on, Dirk, you can return the favour later," Jake says cheerfully, still rubbing you through your pants.

You don't reply, settling for biting your lip and closing your eyes as Jake pulls you back to him. You rest your head on his shoulder, groaning as he positions your knees on either side of him. Hell, you're so close to him, your thighs are practically squeezing his hips.

"J-Jake," you try one last time, but he puts his arm behind his movements and you end up stifling your grunt against his neck.

"Just relax," he tells you, and you give in.

You lazily tilt your head to suck at his neck, but with the amount of interspersed swearing and moaning, you don't think you're contributing much to the plethora of marks dotting his skin.

When he lifts a leg to rub his thigh against you, you forget yourself and arch against him, gripping his hair like a lifeline as you swear breathily. He laughs and repeats the gesture until you're shuddering. You're probably pulling his hair pretty hard, but he doesn't seem to mind and you don't think you can make yourself release him. Every time you try to pull back, he stops you with an extremely effective touch.

"Shit, Jake," you force past gritted teeth. You're breathing as unevenly as he was earlier, and you abandon your effort on his neck, resting your forehead between his neck and shoulder as his fingers dip underneath your waistband.

He slowly works your pants down until he can reach your dick, and then he wraps his hand around you without hesitation.

"Fucking _shit_ ," you get out, and then you're reduced to moans as Jake slowly runs his hand back and forth. You rock your hips into his hand, but he just pats your thigh and you grit your teeth.

Eventually Jake takes pity on you, tightening his fingers around your length and moving faster. You chant a stream of quiet curses, urging him on with the movement of your hips until he stops, kisses your cheek, and tells you that he knows what he's doing and to calm down. Or something like that. You can't really think past his fingers on your dick.

Jake picks up the pace from there, and you're beginning to feel the tension in your lower abdomen mounting. His fingers stroke down to your head, thumb sliding over the tip before returning to his rhythmic movements.

"Fucking- fuck, shit, Jake, fuck-"

The hand that isn't jerking you off travels down your thigh, nails digging in just enough as you bite his neck and moan.

"Ah- cheese and fucking crackers, Dirk," he complains.

You pull back to gasp for breath. "Sorry." Your voice is rough and Jake's rhythm falters for a heartbeat before speeding up.

"No worries." He sounds a little breathless himself.

His fingers tighten and it would probably be uncomfortable if your weren't on the verge of coming. You bite your lip, hard enough to feel a stab of pain, but the only thing that matters right now is how fucking _close_ you are-

You half-moan, half-yell Jake's name as you climax, limply falling against him as he shifts his grip on you.

It takes you a while to regain your senses enough to feel anything beyond Jake's arms around you. When you can bring yourself to move, you give his cheek a quick kiss before pulling back.

Your stomach's a bit of a mess, and you snatch up a towel, laying forgotten in the corner of the room. You clean yourself off before tossing it to Jake, who wipes his hand. He lets it fall back to the ground, and you crawl back into bed beside him as he slowly pulls his tunic back on.

You throw an arm over his waist, resting your forehead against his cheek. You can feel him shifting under you before his hand comes up to stroke your hair, familiar and comforting. You bury your face against him, revelling in his warmth and softness and scent, and perfectly content for what feels like the first time in years.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I just thought I should let you all know that I have not, in fact, vanished off the face of the earth. What I have been doing is first year university, and long story short, it's been kicking my ass. I'm hoping that the winter break will give me a little more time to write, but unfortunately I can't make any promises. <3  
> (The first half is Roxy's POV,,and the second is Dave's)

The sound of people shuffling around outside your room wakes you. You rub your eyes, pretty sure that it's way too early to have any good reason to be awake. You only have about five more seconds before everything comes flooding back, the sun festival and your promise to leave early in the morning and Callie running away.

You sit up, feeling that same nasty, twisty feeling in your stomach as the night before. You don’t want to get out of bed, don’t want to leave the village. You want to go track down Callie and try to explain that whatever she thinks, you would _never_ hurt her. You would, too, if she hadn’t made it extremely clear that she didn’t want anything more to do with you.

You bite your lip, drawing your knees up to your chest and trying not to cry. Your nose feels all stingish and you have to blink a bit to make sure that you don’t tear up. You don’t know what you did wrong. Even if Callie’s heard bad things about ninjas, does she not trust you enough to hear you out.

You lift your head and force your face into a painful smile when Rose taps at your doorframe and leans inside.

“Oh good, you’re awake. We’re already prepared, and I would like to head out as rapidly as possible.”

“Yeah, gotcha. I’ll be right there.”

Rose hesitates. “You seem uncharacteristically unexuberant this morning.”

“I think I’m just tired,” you say, false smile making your cheeks hurt.

Rose doesn’t believe you at all, but when you push off your covers and stand, she disappears. Your shoulders sag as soon as she goes, taking all your pretence at happiness with her.

It’s not that you don’t think you can talk to Rose, but- well, she’s dealing with enough right now, and most of it is already kind of your fault. You don’t want to bother her with any more of your problems. It would be different if it was Dirk or Jane, but only because the two of them have inexplicable ways of making you open up.

Right now, though, all you want to do is go back to bed. Maybe the next time you wake up, the whole think will have been a dream and you can do things the right way.

You sigh, dragging yourself out of the room.

The others are all ready, clustering by the doorway as soon as you get there. You yawn, and apparently that’s all it takes to pass your dampened mood off as exhaustion.

Jane hugs you before you leave, all soft and warm and comforting, and that makes you feel a little better. A lot better, actually. But then you’re pulling back and heading outside and the sun’s barely even up and it takes everything you have to drag one foot behind the other.

You try to focus on walking, and for a while it’s a good distraction because Rose is trying to hurry. You concentrate on controlling your breathing and keeping up at a half-jog, but then you reach the foresty areas and the brambles and leaves slow your progress. Unfortunately, that leaves your mind free to wander, and then you’re back to dwelling. Boring and dull and not at all helpful. All it does is make you sad, and there’s nothing you can do about it, so you should just stop thinking about it.

Your resolve doesn’t even last a second. All you can think about is the horror in Callie’s eyes when she backed away from you, almost tripping over herself in her desperation to get away.

The back of your hand brushes against a thorn bush, and you hiss as it scratches thin white lines across the back of your hand. You snatch your hand to your chest, curling it into a fist. You are not going to cry. You are absolutely not going to burst into tears in the middle of the forest because you scratched your hand.

Or maybe you actually are going to burst into tears in the middle of the forest. You sniffle, shaking your hand even though that has pretty much nothing to do with anything right now.

You swallow hard, blinking rapidly. You _refuse_ to cry right now. You aren't just a ninja, you are _Roxy Lalonde_ , and you can damn well handle a little heartbreak. You take a deep breath, steeling the last of your resolve. You are going to make it through this forest, then back to camp, and you will complete your mission. And _then_ you are allowed to be as sad as you want.

You scowl, as if glowering at the trees is somehow going to help you feel better. It doesn’t, but it helps you to not feel so much like crying, which is kind of what you’re going for.

You watch the ground in front of your feet, trying to focus on the tiny details, the little sticks and leaves and pebbles and roots and dirt clumps. If you don’t distract yourself, you’re going to think about you-know-who, and if you think about her, you’re probably going to fall to pieces in the middle of the woods. And you have firmly resolved that you are _not_ doing that right now.

Rose and Kanaya and Jade walk ahead of you, talking quietly or just focussing on slipping through the plant life. You train your eyes on Kanaya's back, feeling the small rocks and hard knots of tree roots underfoot.

The walk is long, and you hardly stop for anything. Five minutes for a water break ever hour or so, but no food. You don't have the time, Rose says, and you're not really in any mood to argue. At least being hungry gives you something else to think about.

You don't start recognizing the surrounding area until the sun's starting to set, making the outlines of the forest fade into dusky shadows and smudges. You've only been to this camp once or twice, and long ago, but you remember the thickening carpet of pine needles underfoot and the smell of water.

You keep going until your body is aching from the constant moving and your feet hurt. You're tired and hungry and starting to get cold as the wind picks up, and if you weren't so close to the camp, you'd have given up on walking long ago.

The ground starts to slope upwards faintly, then more steeply, and it takes your tired body a monumental effort to not trip and fall backwards down the hill. Rose pauses at the top, waiting for the rest of you to catch up. She doesn't say anything, but after the silence that followed you on the whole journey, you don't expect her to.

You catch up, leaning against a tree, but unfortunately Rose doesn't seem to want to let you catch your breath. She turns and starts off, and you have no choice but to follow. Rose leads you along the stretch of ground where the hill flattens out, all the way up to what looks like a solid wall of stone. You crane your head back, only just able to make out the cliff ridge past the darkened trees.

You hurry after the others as they cluster around the rock. Rose walks up to a spot where the cliff is ragged and uneven, squeezing into the small crevice between a jutting edge of rock and the rest of the wall. She disappears, and then Kanaya goes after her, followed by Jade. You trail after them, surprised to find the split in the rock much bigger than you would expect. Once you duck past the first inch of overhanging rock, the tunnel opens up, arching high over your head, the wall is half an arm's length away on each side.

The tunnel is short, and in seconds you find yourself emerging into the camp. With a knife suddenly at your face. A very sharp one, judging by the way the light glints off the edge.

"Oh, it's you," the knife holder says, and then the blade retracts.

You let out a tiny, relieved breath.

"Hello, Vriska," Rose says calmly. "I don't suppose Snowman is still up?"

"She's been waiting for you," Vriska replies, resting a hand on her hip. "What took you so long?"

"Minor complications," Rose says, and you're grateful that she doesn't even look in your direction. "

Hm," Vriska says, not sounding satisfied.

"Come on, Roxy, I'll show you where you can sleep," Jade breaks in, catching your arm. "I'm super tired." She glances at Rose, but Rose waves her off.

"I can deliver the message myself. You are fully welcome to head to bed."

You let Jade pull you across the camp, hardly paying attention to where you're going. All you know is that Jade leads you into a building, then bundles you into a room at one end of a long hallway.

"I'm just two rooms over, and Rose should be beside you," she says with a smile.

"Thanks," you reply. You must look as exhausted as you feel, because Jade leaves you be with one last grin. The room is simple, with a table that you bump your elbow on. You fall into the bed, not even left with the energy to pull the blankets around your shoulders.

You're glad, though. If you were any less spent, you wouldn't be sleeping. You still can't stop thinking about Callie, but your aching body and tired mind overcome you before you can torture yourself with the memory of her horror. You allow your eyes to close, dreading the moment you wake up and have to face the truth of Callie's disgust for you.

-

Karkat twitches awake in your arms, blinking sleepily up at you. You take advantage of his tired confusion, bumping your nose against his.

"Morning."

"Morning," he replies, sounding too startled to tack on an insult. "Asshole." Never mind. He softens the insult with a small smile and you let the corner of your mouth tick upwards.

"Where's John? And everyone else?" Karkat asks, voice rougher than usual as he blinks away sleep.

"They got up a while ago," you answer, winding your arms around Karkat's waist. "I decided to wait until you finally woke up."

He rolls his eyes. "Wow, so sorry to be an _inconvenience_."

"I missed breakfast for you," you say, offended.

Karkat snorts. "How fucking considerate."

You smirk, kissing the corner of his mouth. "Do you want to go eat?"

"Fine," he agrees grouchily, although he waits for you to move away first.

You slip out of bed, pulling him up with you. He seems to wake up slow, still looking half dazed with his hair wildly mussed and his eyes narrowed. You pretty much have to tug him along behind you by the hand until he wakes up enough to be indignant, pulling away and pushing past you with a scowl. You can't help a smirk as he glances over his shoulder to make sure that you're still coming.

The temple's stone hallways are filled with a permeating sort of cold, one that slices straight through to your bones and convinces you that you'd be just as comfortable outside if it weren't for the wind's muffled screaming. Karkat continues to march stubbornly in front of you until you finally call him out for shivering. He retreats back to your side, letting you pull him against you, muttering something that you'd like to interpret as affection as he headbutts your shoulder lightly.

"Dude, is that any way to thank me for letting you leech my warmth?"

"You're obnoxious," he mutters. You have the sneaking suspicions that he's still groggy, because he keep blinking and biting back yawns.

"Awesome, I'd be wounded if you used a less extreme adjective."

Karkat shoves at the side of your face with one hand, nearly making you trip sideways into the wall. You try to lick him, but he snort and pushes you even farther away.

"Strider, that's fucking disgusting, I don't even know where that tongue's _been_ -"

You pull back when a sudden shout from outside cuts through the air. You exchange a wide eyed look with Karkat, instinctively grabbing for his hand before hurrying along the icy corridors, towing him along behind you. He complains hotly about your "abnormally long legs", and you'd be tempted to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way if you weren't so concerned about the shout.

You end up getting a little turned around, and when you wind up in a dead-ended hallway studded with shuttered windows cut directly into the stone, you decide that the easiest way to get to your destination is by crawling through them. You have to lift Karkat up so he can make it through.

You're wriggling through behind him when you hear him swear. You drop to the ground, brushing snow off of your shoulders, to find Karkat already sprinting across the yard towards a cluster of monks. You hurry after him, lowering your eyebrows in concern when you recognize John and Gamzee in the centre of the huddle.

"John? What's up?" You quickly look him over, but aside from the sympathetic wince on his face, he seems fine.

"We were up on the trail, just checking it out, and Gamzee slipped into a stream."

You're about to ask why that requires yelling before you give him and once-over. At the sight of his drenched, shivering frame, you realize that you'd probably have shouted too if you were dumped into the equivalent of literal ice and then chucked out into the snow and wind.

The monks bundle you back inside- through a door this time- and Karkat spends the walk back through the halls grumbling about how hungry he is. You think he's just bitter about having to go outside and freeze his ass off.

You decide to give the others a break from his griping and pull him off to the side when you pass by what seems to be the mess hall. Long stone tables with benches fill the room, topped with modest baskets of bread and cheese.

You pull Karkat down beside you, reaching for a roll. "This makes me miss Bro's sorry excuse for cooking."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, you fucking animal," Karkat growls, stuffing his face.

You smirk, throwing an arm around his waist to pull him closer. He grunts when you rest your chin on his head, but he doesn't pull away so you chalk it up as a victory.

"We're probably going to head out today, anyways," you muse. "Actually, we probably should have started back home by now. The whole stay in the cave kinda messed up our timing."

"Next time don't get your head bashed in," he snipes back.

"Oh, yeah man, that's really awesome advice. Shit, do you have paper? I should write that down, put it in a memoir or something, listed under some ironically obnoxious title like 'quotes from assholes that changed my life'." You grin as he elbows you in the side. "It's freezing in here, let's get back to the room."

Karkat lets you drag him after you, pausing to shove a couple of rolls into his pockets. You head back in the direction that the monks were going earlier, but after a few minutes you realize that you must have taken a wrong turn. You're in another dead end hallway.

"How many of these fucking things do they have? Is there an actually _purpose_ other than to piss people the fuck off?"

You smirk, kissing the top of Karkat's head. "Dude, calm down. At least this one doesn't have windows."

"You have a shit sense of direction," he spits back. You kiss his cheek this time, ducking down to do it, and he shoves you away, cheeks pink. "Stop that, asshole."

"Yeah, okay," you lie, loosely clasping your arms behind his back and pulling him against you. You look down at him, and he retaliates by grabbing your face and pulling you to him. You laugh through the kiss as he sways on the tips of his toes, and he silences first your amusement by stomping on your foot, and then your subsequent swearing by kissing you again.

You rest your hands lightly on his hips, letting him press you back against the frigid wall. The air is sharp and bitter with cold, but Karkat's breath and skin are warm, and you close your eyes, surrendering to the fierceness of his movements.

"Dave! Karkat!"

You and Karkat jump apart literally half a second before John rounds the corner, eyebrows raising in surprise.

" _There_ you guys are! I've been looking everywhere!"

He's giving you an accusing stare, and you can't think of anything to do but run a hand through you hair and, with a forced casualness, utter a short, "Yeah, uh, we got lost."

"Geez, next time I should come with you, then." He rolls his eyes but he's already breaking into a grin. "But! I was trying to find you to tell you that Gamzee probably won't be leaving with us."

"What? Why not?"

John clasps his hand behind his back and leans against the wall. "Well, after we got back to the room they sent someone to check him out, and it turns out that he some sort of hypothermia or something. I dunno, I wasn't listening that close. But basically they said that he really shouldn't be out traveling through the mountains for at least a week."

"Damn. I don't think we can afford to wait that long."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The monks offered to let him stay here, and we can send a group back to get him once we get to camp." He looks pretty satisfied with himself, and you can't help a small smirk.

"Yeah, sounds great. Good job, Egbert."

John grins. "Okay, good, because I kind of already told them that we were leaving today they're getting everything ready for us to go. Apparently it's a pretty simple path from here to the priestess' temple, and mostly hidden. They said we should be there by evening if we don't leave later than an hour from now."

You nod and he pushes off the wall. You spare a quick glance at Karkat before following.

"I asked the Exiles if they wanted to come, but I think they have other plans," John says as you head back to the room.

"Damn, I wouldn't mind chilling with the Mayor for a little longer."

"He nags too much," Karkat complains, but as soon as you each the room, you see him wander over to the Mayor, muttering something that makes the Mayor pat his hand before offering him half a bun.

You're distracted from Karkat's antics when you feel a slight tug at your sleeve and turn to raise an eyebrow as John gives you a small grin.

"What's up?"

"You and Karkat seem to be getting along."

You resist the urge to clear your throat nervously. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, he's not as much of a tool as I thought he was," you say, striving for nonchalance.

"Psh, yeah okay, if he's only barely tolerable to you, then why do you hang out with him so much?"

You're ready to brush him off with a joke, but then you catch the slight tension on his face that looks like he's trying too hard to be casual.

"I mean, not that it's a bad thing! Not at all!" he quickly adds. "It's just that um... we kind of haven't been hanging out as much now?"

"Oh." Well, shit, he's right. You swallow down the guilt. "Shit, dude, I'm sor-"

"No, no, no," he cuts you off, waving his hands. "Aw man, I didn't want to make you feel bad about it! I just miss hanging out, is all."

"Well damn, how can I blame you for wanting to fulfill the basic human need that is basking in my presence?" you joke, and he elbows you, although he's grinning.

"Ha ha, Dave."

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm in high demand." You drop the smirk after a second. "But yeah, I'll try to hang out with you more. Sorry about kind of ditching you."

"Psh, you didn't exactly ditch me, but okay!" He flashes you one more grin before darting over to the others.

You follow a bit more slowly, and Karkat gives you a concerned frown when the Mayor has John distracted. You give your head a tiny shake in response, but he still reaches over to loop his pinky finger through yours. The warmth that fills your stomach quickly dissolves the uncomfortable guilt.

When a few of the monks stop by to drop off the packs they prepared- as well as a special one containing whatever they want delivered to the priestesses- Karkat wanders over to rifle through his pack, rearranging a few things. John decides to harass him, snatching a glove from the pile of gear beside Karkat and lobbing it at you.

Karkat's head snaps up, and his murderous glare switches from John to lock on you.

"Dude, don't bring me into this," you say, throwing it back.

John doesn't listen, and you barely catch the mitten before it smacks you in the face.

You hurl it back, and Karkat reaches up a hand to snatch it out of the air, only barely missing.

"Ooh," John taunts him, and Karkat jumps to his feet, abandoning his packing to rush at John. John squeaks, tossing the glove at you, and you snag it out of the air, returning it a second before Karkat reaches you.

Karkat starts swearing, and you keep up the game until you catch the Mayor giving you a disapproving look. You mould your face into a contrite expression, and you pass the glove back to John, shaking your head when he moves to toss it back.

By the time he clues in to the fact that he should probably return it, it's too late, and Karkat has barrelled directly into him. They fall back with a grunt and a yelp, and then John's laughing as he bring the mitten down on Karkat's head. Karkat swats it away, then tries to grab it back, and John lands two more smacks on his head before he finally wrenches it free. You watch as Karkat scrambles away, red-faced and cursing, and John gets to his feet, brushing himself off as he snickers.

You try not to acknowledge the stab of jealously in your stomach, but it sharply reminds you that _you're_ not the one making John laugh, and _you're_ not the one making Karkat blush.

You shake your head, shoving down the feeling, and shoulder your pack as soon as Karkat has finished messing around. You all stop by to say a quick farewell to Gamzee before heading off, and then pause for a more heartfelt goodbye with the Exiles once you reach the courtyard. The Mayor pulls you into a hug and you smush your cheek against the top of his had as he pats your back.

"Hey, take care of yourself, alright?" you say when he pulls back. He reaches up (and you bend down a little to help him) to pat your cheek affectionately.

Even Karkat seems reluctant to let the Mayor be on his way, grumbling and sulking his way through the goodbyes. It's only thanks to John's prodding that you manage to part ways at all, and you catch Karkat glancing over his shoulder until you round a corner and the path behind disappears from sight.

 

 

 

 


End file.
